philosophy of religion dissertation topics

Theology, Philosophy and Religion Dissertation Topics

Within a degree course dissertations are heavily weighted and thus vitally important to your final result. Handing in a mediocre attempt can be the difference between a 2:1 and a 2:2 or a 2:1 and a First . As your dissertation is usually the only independently set question, your grade isn’t simply based on covering the basic points or how you present your work. What topic or question you choose and what your work adds to the subject area is also critically important. No lecturer is expecting you to come up with completely new theological theories, but they will expect your literature to add to what is already out there. To help you to prepare for your religious studies dissertation, this article makes suggestions of Theology, Philosophy and Religion Dissertation Topics topics on which to base your research.

World Religions Dissertation Topics

Religious history dissertation topics, religion in the contemporary world dissertation topics, ethics and religion dissertation topics, philosophy of religion dissertation topics, religious mythology dissertation topics, religious buildings and architecture dissertation topics, worship and ritual dissertation topics, politics and religion dissertation topics.

Modules in world religion cover all aspects of traditions from around the world. Studies can be on belief systems as niche as the Samurai or as mainstream as Catholicism. The focus is on fully exploring and gaining new insight into the highly diverse nature of faith. Ideas of how to specify an area on which to research for a religious studies dissertation are suggested by the following titles:

Compare and contrast the basic principles of Eastern and Western religious faiths. Are the two factions really that different?
What social beliefs influenced the creation of Japanese religion and how much change to Japanese belief has there been in modern times?
What can be learnt from the religious conflict in the Sudan?
Compare and contrast modern day Egyptian religious traditions to those from the pre-dynastic period.
All religious paths lead to the same mountain top. Discuss.
Has the Christian dominance in Ireland subsided enough for the Catholics and Protestants to live in peace?
Atheism is the new world religion. Discuss.
Compare religious belief in modern day India to their beliefs in the early 20th Century. What has changed and why?

Religious history is the study of belief systems throughout time. The subject pays particular attention to which religions were dominant and which religions have had a historical impact on cultures throughout time. It will often involve close examination of all literature and culture from a specific era in search of religious references. Although the institution that you study in may have bias or emphasis to a particular faith, studies in this area are not restricted to mainstream religions such as Christianity or Islam. Religious history is a key component to how the human race has evolved through time. A religious studies dissertation in this area will create many areas of research for you. Some are suggested below.

What religious conflicts were faced by the people of Elizabethan England and what evidence do we have of such conflicts from this time?
History has taught us that the belief system of a nation depends on who is sitting on the throne. Discuss.
In their book ‘ Pagan Christianity Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices ‘ authors Viola and Barna suggest overwhelming similarity between the Pagan and Christian faiths. How far do you agree with their theory of Christianity being historically rooted in Pagan tradition?
What were the foundations of the Islamic faith and how close are modern day rituals and traditions to those thought to have been practiced in 7th Century Saudi Arabia?
Historically speaking, which country and cultures have been unable to resolve religious conflict and how has this impacted on their culture today?
Was Adolf Hitler influenced by religious ideas and doctrines?
Where did religion as we know it today originate?
Historically, human beings have failed in matters of religious tolerance. Discuss.

As the heading suggests, this topic focuses on how religions operate in the contemporary world. This might be questioning whether a faith is applicable to modern day dilemmas, or how a faith is portrayed by the media. This is a particularly important study for those wanting to continue their study in theology to post graduate levels, as academics are increasingly questioning the relevance of religion to modern day life and making this a focus of religious discussion. For topics suggestions for your religious studies dissertation, see below.

Old Testament teachings from the Christian Bible are too outdated and no longer applicable to life in the 21st Century. Discuss.
Which religious code of ethics is most applicable to modern day life and why?
How can religious faith justify the existence of international terrorism and an all-loving, omnipotent god?
Do religious belief systems contradict modern day notions of equality for women?
According to the Bible homosexuals can have no god. Discuss.
Is Buddhism the only religion applicable to modern life in the UK?
In post 9/11 culture, Eastern religions have no chance of a fair trial in the media. Discuss.
What do pagan and neo-wicca belief systems have to offer in the face of 21st century living?

Religious ethics or religion and ethics is concerned with understanding the morality of religion, how it applies to every day life and key moments throughout history. If you are looking to base your religious studies dissertation in this area, the following topic suggestions may help you.

Religion and morality are synonymous. Discuss.
What ethical beliefs are involved in the Hindu faith and in what situations are they most applicable?
Can military action ever be ethically justified through religious ethics?
Which religions use situation ethics in their moral code and how effective are their codes in moral dilemmas?
In the 21st century ethical egoism is the only logical moral code. Discuss.
Which ethical codes are used in Judaism and where do these codes fall short?
The taking of even one innocent life can never be ethically and religiously justified. Discuss.
Islamic fundamentalists have no moral code. Discuss.

Philosophy of religion is concerned with logical arguments for and against the existence of a superior being and for and against the potency of religious faith. The objective is to question all aspects of religion to ascertain whether religion can be philosophically justified as a possibility. The following are just some of the topics you could discuss for your religious studies dissertation.

The existence of life on earth is evidence of the existence of a higher being. Discuss.
A world so full of evil can not co-exist with an all-loving omnipotent God.
If God exists, who made him?
God only exists in the minds of the people who follow him. Discuss.
What challenges are there to the Christian belief that there is only one omnipotent God?
Does divinity exist in nature as the Egyptians once believed?
Religion is nothing more than a safety net in the face of death. Discuss.

Religious mythology is concerned with the myths and religious stories that accompany the various religious factions across the world. You will often be asked to offer interpretation and fresh insights into what such literature means to believers.

What does the Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris teach us about Ancient Egyptian life?
What conflicting behaviour do Jesus and his disciples display in the Bible and how should believers interpret these inconsistencies?

This topic focuses on the role architecture plays in the realm of religion and within religious communities. To effectively study this topic you need to look beyond the physical aesthetics of a building and attempt to understand what buildings symbolise for those following a religious faith. With many religious buildings around the world, a religious studies dissertation in this area will provide you with many research possibilities.

What makes a church?
Buildings such as the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona are evidence of divine inspiration. Discuss.
Expensive religious buildings are insensitive to those living in poverty; the very people religion is supposed to support. Discuss.
Demolishing a religious building is an act against the divine. Discuss.
Do believers need religious buildings to connect with their deity?
Do grand religious buildings cause religious leaders to lose touch with their followers?
Without the focus of religious buildings, religion would die out. Discuss.
Do you agree that people are only in the presence of the divine when they enter a religious building?

Worship and ritual is concerned with the physical and spiritual rites people of religious faith use to honour their principles and their deity. Within this subject you may study life changing ceremonies such as weddings and funerals or simple methods of connecting with a deity such as meditation or chanting. Factors still prominent in modern society, a religious studies dissertation on one of the following topics could be very intriguing.

Being married in a church is the only way to be recognised as a couple in the eyes of God. Discuss.
What evidence is there to support that Wiccan and Pagan followers can actually work real spells?
What do differing methods of prayer tell us about differing religions?
How has Christian worship evolved over time?
Is it necessary to baptise a baby to save its soul?
How does Islamic worship and ritual differ to that of other world religions, and what do Islamic customs indicate about Islamic culture?
Do all polytheistic followers worship the divine in the same way?
Ritual may differ but at their core all religions are the same. Discuss.

Religion and politics examine the relationship between these two discourses and their impact upon one another. For further topic suggestions for your religious studies dissertation, see the examples below.

Politicians should not interfere in religious conflicts. Discuss.
How has politics influenced religion in the UK over the last 500 years?
Should religious leaders have some legal and political power?
Can the religious leaning of a political candidate win or lose them an election?
All wars use politics as a mask when religion is at their core. Discuss.
Should politicians keep their religious beliefs a secret and keep their political decision religiously objective?
The most effective world leaders have followed a religious pathway. Discuss.
Politicians only pay lip service to religion for popularity. Discuss.

Philosophy of Religion Research Paper Topics

This page provides a comprehensive list of philosophy of religion research paper topics , delving into the nuanced relationship between philosophical inquiry and religious beliefs. Students and researchers will find insights into the profound connections and debates that have shaped both religious and philosophical traditions throughout history. Additionally, with the guidance and expertise of iResearchNet, learners can embark on a detailed exploration of these themes, promoting a deeper understanding and appreciation of the myriad ways in which philosophy and religion intersect and influence each other.

100 Philosophy of Religion Research Paper Topics

In the vast panorama of human inquiry, the philosophy of religion holds a unique and seminal place. It sits at the crossroads of existential questioning and spiritual exploration, offering a deep reservoir of topics for those seeking to delve into the nature of divinity, humanity, and the universe. Choosing the right philosophy of religion research paper topics is essential, not only for academic achievements but also for personal growth, critical understanding, and fostering inter-religious dialogue in a globalized world.

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Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and their philosophical underpinnings.
Greek philosophy: From polytheism to monotheism.
The merging of Roman political ideology with Christianity.
Medieval scholasticism and the fusion of reason with faith.
The Enlightenment and the challenge to religious orthodoxy.
Romanticism’s spiritual revival against materialism.
Eastern philosophy: From Vedanta to Zen Buddhism.
Abrahamic faiths: Philosophical interpretations of monotheism.
Indigenous religious beliefs and their philosophical depth.
The modern-day revival of ancient pagan philosophies.
The monotheistic traditions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Dharmic paths: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
Philosophical Taoism versus religious Taoism.
Confucianism’s moral ethics and its societal impact.
Shamanism and animism: Connecting with the natural world.
Zoroastrianism and its influence on Western monotheism.
The Baha’i faith and its universalist approach.
The indigenous spiritual traditions of Africa.
Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime philosophy.
The Raelian movement and other modern religious philosophies.
Cosmology: Creation myths versus the Big Bang theory.
Evolutionary theory and religious interpretations of human origin.
Quantum mechanics: Where science meets mysticism.
Neuroscience, consciousness, and the soul.
Artificial intelligence, robotics, and theological implications.
Environmentalism as a religious and scientific imperative.
The moral considerations of genetic engineering.
Medical ethics: Euthanasia, abortion, and religious perspectives.
Extraterrestrial life: Religious implications of discovering “others”.
The fine-tuning argument and the existence of a Creator.
Kierkegaard’s leap of faith and existential Christianity.
Nietzsche’s proclamation: “God is dead.”
Camus, the Absurd, and the quest for meaning without divinity.
Sartre’s atheistic existentialism and the essence of humanity.
Heidegger’s “Being” and religious interpretations.
Dostoevsky’s exploration of faith in The Brothers Karamazov .
Kafka and the religious undertones of alienation.
Religious overtones in Beckett’s Waiting for Godot .
The existential search for authenticity and religious identity.
Tillich’s concept of the “God above God.”
The religious roots of morality: Is God necessary for ethics?
Comparing the moral codes of world religions.
Just war theory in Christianity and Islam.
Buddhist ethics: The Middle Path and compassion.
The challenge of religious extremism and its ethical ramifications.
Religious perspectives on capital punishment.
Vegetarianism and non-violence in Jainism and Hinduism.
Charity, almsgiving, and social justice in religious traditions.
The problem of evil: Theodicy across religions.
Asceticism and its ethical implications in different religious paths.
Revisiting Eve: Feminist readings of religious origin stories.
Goddess worship and matriarchal traditions.
The role of women in organized religious hierarchies.
Mary Daly and the concept of a post-Christian feminism.
Islamic feminism: Reinterpreting the Quran.
Feminist critiques of Buddhist monasticism.
Ecofeminism and the sacred feminine.
Women mystics in the Christian tradition.
Feminine symbolism in Kabbalistic teachings.
Liberation theology’s focus on women’s rights.
Theocracy versus secularism: Philosophical implications.
Render unto Caesar: Christianity’s evolving stance on state power.
Islamic governance: From Caliphates to modern nation-states.
Confucianism and its influence on Chinese statecraft.
Religion’s role in the American political landscape.
Hindu nationalism in contemporary India.
The Dalai Lama and Tibetan theocratic governance.
Secularism, laïcité, and European politics.
Liberation theology and Marxist movements in Latin America.
The rise and impact of political Zionism.
The nature and experience of mystical states across religions.
Sufism: The mystical heart of Islam.
Christian mystics: From St. John of the Cross to Meister Eckhart.
Kabbalah: Jewish esoteric traditions and their universal messages.
Advaita Vedanta and the non-dual reality.
Zen Buddhism: Satori and sudden enlightenment.
Gnostic traditions and the search for hidden knowledge.
Native American vision quests and transcendental experiences.
The role of psychedelics in religious and mystical experiences.
Modern scientific interpretations of mystical experiences.
The cross in Christianity: Interpretations and symbolism.
The significance of the Kaaba in Islam.
Sacred geometry and religious symbolism.
Myths of creation and apocalypse across traditions.
Rituals of passage: Birth, adulthood, marriage, and death.
The ritual use of music and dance in spiritual practices.
Sacred texts: Their role and interpretation in religious traditions.
Pilgrimage: Seeking the divine in sacred spaces.
Religious festivals and their philosophical meanings.
Carl Jung’s interpretation of religious symbols.
The Future of Religion: Postmodern and Contemporary Views
The rise of secularism and the “nones.”
Interfaith dialogue in a globalized world.
Postmodern critiques of organized religion.
Spirituality versus organized religion in the modern age.
Neo-paganism and the revival of ancient religious practices.
The intersection of technology and spirituality.
Transhumanism and its challenge to traditional religious beliefs.
New religious movements in the digital age.
The role of meditation and mindfulness in contemporary spirituality.
The prospects of universalist religious philosophies.

The tapestry of philosophy of religion research paper topics is both diverse and profound, offering myriad avenues for exploration. It represents an ever-evolving dialogue between human beings and the mysteries of existence, pushing us to question, reflect, and understand more deeply. We encourage scholars, students, and curious minds to immerse themselves in these topics, fostering both academic excellence and a richer understanding of the multifaceted nature of human belief.

The Range of Philosophy of Religion Research Paper Topics

Introduction

Religion has always played a pivotal role in the lives of humans, influencing cultures, politics, and personal choices. However, it is the philosophy of religion that critically assesses and shapes religious thought and practices. Like a mirror, it allows adherents and scholars to reflect upon the core tenets, beliefs, and implications of religious traditions.

Expansive Nature of Topics in Philosophy of Religion

The philosophy of religion offers a vast expanse of topics, each probing deep into the questions of existence, deity, morality, and human purpose. From the age-old debate on the existence of God and the problem of evil to the ethical implications of religious doctrines and the feminist interpretations in religious philosophies, the terrain is broad and deep. It’s not just about understanding individual religions, but about grappling with questions that transcend individual beliefs: How does religion intersect with science or politics? What is the nature of the divine? How do symbols, myths, and rituals anchor the human understanding of the cosmos?

Evolution of Religious Philosophies Through Time

Historically, religious philosophies have evolved in tandem with the socio-cultural and scientific developments of their times. Ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle laid the groundwork for many discussions about the divine, ethics, and the nature of the good life. Their dialogues and debates shaped much of early Christian philosophy and continue to be pivotal in theological seminaries and philosophy departments.

Centuries later, during the medieval period, scholars like Thomas Aquinas and Ibn Rushd (Averroes) would further refine and challenge classical views, synthesizing them with the revelations of the Abrahamic faiths. The Renaissance and Enlightenment periods ushered in a new wave of skepticism and humanism, leading to modern and postmodern critiques and defenses of religious beliefs.

Each era has brought with it fresh perspectives, challenges, and revisions to religious philosophies, demonstrating the dynamic nature of this field.

How Global Religious Systems Have Been Shaped by Philosophical Ideas

The global religious landscape has been immensely influenced by philosophical postulations. Take, for instance, the Buddhist doctrine of anatta or non-self, a profound philosophical stance that challenges the very notion of persistent identity. This idea shapes not just individual meditation practices but also how societies understand the self and its relationship to the world.

Similarly, the Islamic concept of Tawhid, the oneness of God, is not just a theological assertion but a philosophical stance on the nature of reality, affecting everything from art (like the avoidance of depicting living beings in many Islamic art forms) to ethics and law.

In the West, Christian notions of love, redemption, and Trinity have been the subject of philosophical scrutiny and interpretation, influencing everything from art and literature to politics and social structures.

Even secularism, often seen in opposition to religious belief, has its roots in philosophical discussions about the nature of belief, the state, and individual rights.

Importance of Philosophy of Religion Research Paper Topics

Diving into philosophy of religion research paper topics is more than just an academic exercise; it’s a journey into the deepest questions of human existence. For students and scholars, these topics offer a chance to engage with these questions in a structured, critical manner.

Such research fosters critical thinking, a deeper appreciation for the diversity and richness of global religious traditions, and an understanding of the profound ways in which religious beliefs shape, and are shaped by, the broader cultural and philosophical milieu. Furthermore, by engaging deeply with these topics, students can also explore their beliefs, confront doubts, and refine their understanding of their religious traditions or the traditions of others.

The philosophy of religion research paper topics remains as relevant today as they were in the times of ancient philosophers. In an increasingly globalized world, where religious beliefs often intersect, clash, and coalesce, understanding the philosophy of religion becomes paramount. Whether one is a believer, agnostic, or atheist, delving into these topics offers a richer understanding of the human quest for meaning, purpose, and connection. Through these explorations, we not only understand religions better but also the very essence of humanity’s perennial questions about existence, morality, and the divine.

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Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Published by Grace Graffin at January 9th, 2023 , Revised On January 9, 2023

Introduction

The choice of dissertation topic is crucial for research as it will facilitate the process and makes it an exciting and manageable process. Several dissertation ideas exist in philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, aesthetics, deontology, absurdum, and existentialism. Philosophy dissertations can be based on either primary research or secondary research.

Primary data dissertations incorporate the collection and analysis of data obtained through questionnaires and surveys. On the other hand, secondary data dissertations make use of existing literature to test the research hypothesis . To help you get started with philosophy topic selection for your dissertation, a list is developed by our experts.

These philosophy dissertation topics have been developed by PhD qualified writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting a brief research proposal from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an introduction to the topic, research question , aim and objectives , literature review along with the proposed methodology of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our dissertation examples to get an idea of how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of dissertation topics for 2022 here.

Philosophy Dissertation Topics of Research

Topic 1: an examination of women's perspective on feminist philosophy..

Research Aim: This study aims to look into the importance of feminism in a philosophical context. It will also identify the factors that lead to postmodernism and liberal feminism from women’s perspectives and will also focus on the impact of feminist philosophy on the development of modern society.

Topic 2: Sociological Functionalism- Investigating the Development and Beliefs

Research Aim: This research study will focus on new types of functionalism and get a deeper understanding of inner and outer circumstances in which different approaches take place. This study will also investigate how the researchers use social theory to acquire a better understanding of the environment in which these concepts are used. It will also promote sociology through informing and inspiring practices and research.

Topic 3: Assessing the History and Development of Philosophical Work from the 15th to 21st Century.

Research Aim: This study aims to find the history and development of philosophical work from the 15th and 21st Centuries. It will examine the theoretical foundations of the practice, applications, and social consequences. This study will also focus on different factors of how philosophy has evolved in these centuries and what changes have occurred.

Topic 4: A Comprehensive View of Social Development of Loneliness.

Research Aim: This study will comprehend how various theoretical points of view are connected or linked r to loneliness. This study will also present an argument for an interpretative social point of view by dissembling the sense of loneliness into key components. It will also focus on the problems and different behaviours of people.

Topic 5: What does it mean to live in an Ideal Society- Discuss using Plato's Philosophies.

Research Aim: Plato is well known for his monologue known as the Republic; he was also the classical political philosopher whose views influenced future political thoughts. Plato’s ideal society was created during a time when Plato was exceedingly optimistic about human nature and its ability to absorb knowledge. This study will conduct a deep analysis of Plato’s ideologies and his views and their impact on the western political world.

Topic 2: Should people always obey the rules? A closer look at the line between breaking rules and rebellion.

Research Aim: Rules are developed to maintain a balance in society and ensure discipline, which helps an individual in every sphere of their lives. But specific rules are created only for serving a group and not for the whole society’s best interest. This research aims at finding pieces of evidence where rule-breaking is a rebellion and for the upliftment of humanity and not in personal interest.

Topic 3: Loneliness: Reconstructing its meaning

Research Aim: This research aims at finding the meaning of loneliness, what it is to feel lonely, why some people are reclusive, isolate themselves. Loneliness is not always related to sadness, and some people feel better in isolation due to their bitter experiences of life.

Topic 4: Understanding why religion is paramount above anything else for many people around the globe.

Research Aim: Religion forms the basis of life and way of living for many people around the globe. People often get confused with religion and spiritualism, and the grandeur associated with religion becomes more important. The lack of knowledge and education forces blind faith. This research aims to find the reason for dependency on religion and how it negatively affects human lives.

Topic 5: What is the best way to boost a person’s creativity?

Research Aim: This research aims at finding the best possible way to boost a person’s creativity. The most important way is to motivate, inspire, and support them in their process of exploring innovative ideas. Recognition of talent can be the most effective method, which the research will investigate.

Topic 6: Morality and religion: Why are they different, yet they talk about the same thing?

Research Aim: The fundamental essence of religion is compassion and empathy for humans and ensures morality and ethics as a way of life. This research emphasises the primary aim of a religion and how people are getting disoriented and making rituals of religion the prime concern.

Topic 7: Wealth: Is it possible to be rich without having a lot of money?

Research Aim: Wealth and money are co-related as lots of money gives the power to buy anything. But a wealth of human life lies in their moral values, love, affection, proper health and wellbeing, and money cannot accept them. This research topic will speak about becoming wealthy, even with limited monetary wealth.

Topic 8: How can the custom of dowry be eliminated from people’s minds?

Research Aim: Dowry is a social parasite, and it is now a punishable offence by the law. But rules alone cannot change society. The research aims at eradicating the practice of dowry from people’s minds in the light of education.

Topic 9: To love or to be loved: Which is more important?

Research Aim: Love is the feeling of intense desire or deep affection. The most beautiful feeling gives a sense of satisfaction and grows through exchange between two individuals. To love and be loved are two co-related aspects as human expects love in return. The research focuses on the more critical dilemma, being on the giving or receiving side of love.

Topic 10: Why social behaviour and ethics cannot be separated?

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the importance of ethics in social behaviour and why they cannot be separated. An ethical society is a proper place to thrive for every individual.

Topic 11: A more in-depth look at things that make human life meaningful.

Research Aim: Money, power does not always buy happiness. The research lays the foundation for the importance of care, compassion, empathy. Love and affection as the more essential aspects that make human life meaningful.

Topic 12: Is it possible to create an ideal society?

Research Aim: An ideal society is free from any crime and economic disparities where everyone is treated equally. This research will discuss whether a perfect community is attainable; it is practically possible or not.

Topic 13: A closer look at modern life values.

Research Aim: The research aims to focus on the change in values in modern times. The research’s primary purpose is to provide a comparative study of how modern people’s mindset has changed over time.

Topic 14: Euthanasia: Is it ethical?

Research Aim: A long time debate exists regarding the ethical side of euthanasia. Ending someone’s life can be considered unlawful as we do not have the right to end something we did not create. This research aims at providing evidence in favour of euthanasia and also the negative aspects.

Topic 15: What is the value of truth? Are there instances when lying is good?

Research Aim: The research aims to provide evidence where lying is not unethical. The study will give an example from Bhagwat Gita, where Lord Krishna lied to safeguard humanity.

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Religion, Theology and Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Religion is a course that develops an understanding of cultural contexts of religion and its significance to the people. It encompasses a study of the major religions in the world: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism

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Philosophy has its basis in reasoning. Theology is about thinking about religious beliefs rationally while presuming faith and philosophy centers on arguments or proof about the existence of God. Philosophy also relates to inconsistencies in the description of God’s nature.There is much to for Doctorate students to study and write about Religion, Theology, and Philosophy Dissertation Topics. Below are the most important and popular topics to write for a dissertation in this field.

World Religions Dissertation Topics

World religion modules cover aspects of religious traditions around the world. The study can be on mainstream belief s systems like Catholicism or narrow to a niche like The Samurai . The focus is to explore and gain new insights into the diverse nature of faith. The diverse nature of religion makes it necessary to analyze it in terms of continuous evolution. Below is a list of world religions dissertation topics that focus on a thematic approach that you can use for research purposes.

A critical analysis of the notion of Atheism in the modern world
An inherent belief of any religion lies in following the teachings by higher authority. Discuss.
An analysis of the contemporary style of preaching in religious gatherings
Is there a relation between religious diversity and terrorism? A comparative analysis
What is the impact of religious evolution in Africa? An analysis of applications and implications

There are many religions around the world that you can write about in a dissertation. The right way is to focus on a particular religion or an aspect about it to prevent the dissertation from becoming too general.

History and Religion Dissertation Topics

Most of the religions have existed for a long time. History and religion have much in common. They are areas of interest in the past decades and continue to have much importance to researchers. They focus on the influence and impact that religion has been impacting culture throughout history. Do not confine history and religion to evolution or impact on a particular faith. It is an area going beyond the diversity of religion and focuses on the evolution of the human race over time. The list below will guide you on possible history and religion dissertation topics that you can adapt for your paper.

Islam: The religious foundations of Islam and evolution through the 7th century into the modern world.
Is Christian faith an entrenchment from the roots of Pagan faith? Discuss
An analysis of the role of religion leaderships in the evolution of faith and diversity of beliefs
The ruling political superior influences the premise of faith in society. A critical analysis
Did religious doctrines and ideas influence Adolf Hitler’s actions?

Religion and the Contemporary World Dissertation Topics

Religion and the contemporary world is a unit focusing on the way religions operate in the modern world. It includes a study on factors that influence the application of religious beliefs significantly, like the media. It is a fascinating scholarly area when you want to study theology and religion together as implications of religion to the contemporary world or vice versa. It unearths information with an insight about the direction of religion at a time when some question its relevance to modern life. Read below for suggestions on religion and the contemporary world dissertation topics .

Are teachings in the Old Testament of the Christian bible too outdated to apply in 21st-century life? Discuss
Examine the most applicable religious code of ethics in modern life.
A critical analysis of the reasons contributing to the increasing popularity of Buddhism in Europe
Global evolution and recent legalization for recognizing same-gender relationships, but religions do not? What is the possible implication?
Does the media make an unfair representation of Eastern religions, especially Islam, after the 9/11 terror attack? Discuss

Ethics and Religion Dissertation Topics

Ethics and religion is a component concerning the understanding morality of religion, its applications in daily life, and significant moments throughout history. You can write on much about morality and religion because they have been side by side throughout history. Various moral conducts have roots in religious beliefs. Below is a list of ethics and religion dissertation topics that you can use for your project.

How is religion synonymous with morality?
Discuss ethical beliefs based on religion with an analysis of the application to the moral dilemmas that the modern world is facing
Situational ethics from religion point of view: discuss the impact of situational ethics in a multi-religious community
Terrorism and religion fundamentalists: A lack of moral code?

Religion and Philosophy Dissertation Topics

The connection between religion and philosophy is that the latter is concerned with creating a justification for and against:

Existence of a superior being
The potency of religious faith

Philosophy creates a basis to question aspects of religion to ascertain if it has a philosophical justification. You can find an interesting, relevant religion and philosophy dissertation topics from the list below.

What is the relationship between the existence of God and life? Critically discuss the two with examples
Death is inevitable. Does religion provide the comfort of a cloak to make us forget the inevitability?
A justification on the existence of God during the continued loss of lives through terrorism and disasters
Challenges to Christian belief faces in justifying the existence of only one omnipotent God.
Does the extremely evil world leave any place for a holy God?

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Architecture and Religion: Built Heritage Dissertation Topics

The place of architecture in religion is that it plays a significant role within religious communities by providing a visible component of belief. Structured is the place that a community uses to substantiate religious faith. An understanding of the true essence of architectural building within religious faith comes from looking beyond the structural aesthetics of physical buildings. Your dissertation should create a deeper understanding of the engraved intangible value of the religious faith driving the community. Many research possibilities are available in this area due to the existence of religious buildings around the world. Below is a list of relevant architecture and religion: built heritage dissertation topics.

Architectural buildings like mosques and churches have a big impact on sustaining religious faith? Discuss.
An expensive religious building is a contradiction or religious teaching that everyone is equal. Discuss?
Would the religious people feel any divine presence if there were no religious architectural spaces?
Some buildings are a sign of divine inspiration. Discuss
Is demolishing a religious building demeaning to the deity and faith?

Politics and Religion: Dissertation Topics

The study of politics and religion aims at drawing a connecting relationship between the two. A dissertation assignment on the two turns to analyze the impact of each other is a real-life application. The examples below have some of politics and religion: dissertation topics you can use for your paper.

Should there be a strict distinction between religious beliefs and political views?
Religious leadership deserves to get some form of political influence and a legal authority
How does religion succumb to political pressure and interests? Critically analyze.
Politicians are not religious. They only submit to religious authority when they want to gain popularity.
R eligious pathway has led many world leaders to remarkable political achievement. Discuss

There are many religions, theology, and philosophy dissertation topics, but you should find the most interesting as it will generate the urge to read and research about it. The more information you share will exhibit your research skills and knowledge contribution to your academic field, which is the purpose of this last project.

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > Religious Studies > Theses and Dissertations

Religious Studies Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2022 2022.

Interpreting 9/11: Religious or Political Event? , Fadime Apaydin

The need to address religious diversity at work: an all-inclusive model of spirituality at work , Ivonne Valero Cázares

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Mass is the Medium: Marshall McLuhan and Roman Catholic Liturgical Change , Ashil D. Manohar

White Too Long: Christianity or Nationalism? , Rachel E. Osborne

"Theology" in the Public University , Sarah T. White

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Warfare in Christianity and Islam: Unveiling Secular Justifications and Motivations Behind So-Called Religious Violence , Onur Korkmaz

Legitimizing Violence: Functional Similarities of the Religious and the Secular Violence , Tahir Topal

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

“Living Creatures of Every Kind:” An Ecofeminist Reading of Genesis 1-3 , T. G. Barkasy

Three Theorists on Religious Violence in an Islamic Context: Karen Armstrong, Mark Juergensmeyer, and William T. Cavanaugh , Ayse Camur

Complex Tripartite Hydro Politics of River Ganges , Muttaki Bin Kamal

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Solid Metaphor and Sacred Space: Interpreting the Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations Found at Beth Alpha Synagogue , Evan Carter

Growth, and Development of Care for Leprosy Sufferers Provided by Religious Institutions from the First Century AD to the Middle Ages , Philippa Juliet Meek

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Altering Tian: Spirituality in Early Confucianism , Jacob Thomas Atkinson

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

The U.S. Department of State Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: What does the U.S. engage when they engage `religion'? , Belgica Marisol Cucalon

Rising Above a Crippling Hermeneutic , Luke Steven, Carlos, Armando Thompson

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

From Cosmogony to Anthropogony: Inscribing Bodies in Vedic Cosmogony and Samskara Rituals , Christine Boulos

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Gadamer and Nāgārjuna in Play: Providing a New Anti-Objectivist Foundation for Gadamer’s Interpretive Pluralism with Nāgārjuna’s Help , Nicholas Byle

Shamanism, Spiritual Transformation and the Ethical Obligations of the Dying Person: A Narrative Approach , Ellen W. Klein

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Finding Confucianism in Scientology: A comparative analysis , John Albert Kieffer

Sympathy for the devil: A character analysis of Gibreel Farishta in Salman Rushdie's The satanic verses , Catherine Mary Lafuente

The Babel paradox , Michel Machado

Theology, Spirituality, and the Academic Study of Religion in Public Universities , Don Saunders

Broadening the Spectrum: The Religious Dimensions of the Rainbow Gatherings , Seth M. Walker

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Poetry and Ritual: The Physical Expression of Homoerotic Imagery in sama , Zachary Holladay

Religious Exiles And Emigrants: The Changing Face Of Zoroastrianism , Tara Angelique Migliore

Metropolitan Community Church: A Perfectly Queer Reading Of The Bible , Matthew D. Stewart

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

(Dis)continuity between Sikhism and Islam: The development of hukam across religions , Mark Horowitz

Natural Law Ethics: A Comparison of the Theravāda and Thomistic Traditions , David Lantigua

An analysis Of Origen's charismatic ideology in his Commentary on the Gospel of John , Kimberly W. Logan-Hudson

The proliferating sacred: Secularization and postmodernity , Donald Surrency

Theses/Dissertations from 2006 2006

The commodification of yoga in contemporary U.S. culture , Michelle E. Demeter

The Middle-Class Religious Ideology and the Underclass Struggle: A Growing Divide in Black Religion , Franklin Hills Jr.

The ethics of the spirit in Galatians: Considering Paul's paranesis in the interpretation of his theology , Steven Douglas Meigs

Cicero and St. Augustine's Just War Theory: Classical Influences on a Christian Idea , Berit Van Neste

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

The Origins of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature: Prophecy, Babylon, and 1 Enoch , Sarah Robinson

Theses/Dissertations from 2004 2004

Sports and the American Sacred: What are the Limits of Civil Religion? , Frank Ferreri

Radical Religious Groups and Government Policy: A Critical Evaluation , Tori Chambers Lockler

“Symbolism of Language: A Study in the Dialogue of Power Between the Imperial Cult and the Synoptic Gospels” , Sharon Matlock-Marsh

Near-Death Experiences, Religion, and Life After Death , Holly Wallace

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Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion is the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions. It involves all the main areas of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics and value theory, the philosophy of language, philosophy of science, law, sociology, politics, history, and so on. Philosophy of religion also includes an investigation into the religious significance of historical events (e.g., the Holocaust) and general features of the cosmos (e.g., laws of nature, the emergence of conscious life, widespread testimony of religious significance, and so on). Section one offers an overview of the field and its significance, with subsequent sections covering developments in the field since the mid-twentieth century. These sections will address philosophy of religion as studied primarily in analytic departments of philosophy and religious studies in English speaking countries.

1. The Field and its Significance

2. the meaningfulness of religious language, 3. religious forms of life and practices, 4.1 philosophical reflection on divine attributes, 4.2 god's existence, bibliography, other internet resources, related entries.

The philosophical exploration of religious beliefs and practices is evident in the earliest recorded philosophy, east and west. In the west, throughout Greco-Roman philosophy and the Medieval era, philosophical reflection on God, or gods, reason and faith, the soul, afterlife, and so on were not considered to be a sub-discipline called “philosophy of religion.” The philosophy of God was simply one component among many interwoven philosophical projects. This intermingling of philosophical inquiry with religious themes and the broader enterprises of philosophy (e.g. political theory, epistemology, et al .) is apparent among many early modern philosophers such as John Locke and George Berkeley. Only gradually do we find texts devoted exclusively to religious themes. The first use of the term “philosophy of religion” in English occurs in the 17 th century work of Ralph Cudworth. Cudworth and his Cambridge University colleague Henry Moore produced philosophical work with a specific focus on religion and so, if one insisted on dating the beginning of philosophy of religion as a field, there are good reasons for claiming that it began (gradually) in the mid- 17 th century (see Taliaferro 2005).

Today philosophy of religion is a robust, intensely active area of philosophy. Almost without exception, any introduction to philosophy in the Anglophone world includes some philosophy of religion. The importance of philosophy of religion is chiefly due to subject matter: alternative beliefs about God, Brahman, and the sacred, the varieties of religious experience, the interplay between science and religion, the challenge of non-religious philosophies, the nature and scope of good and evil, religious treatments of birth, history, and death, and other substantial terrain. A philosophical exploration of these topics involves fundamental questions about our place in the cosmos and about our relationship to what may transcend the cosmos. Such philosophical work requires an investigation into the nature and limit of human thought. Alongside these complex, ambitious projects, philosophy of religion has at least three factors that contribute to its importance for the overall enterprise of philosophy.

Philosophy of religion explores embedded social and personal practices. Philosophy of religion is therefore relevant to practical concerns; its subject matter is not all abstract theory. Given the vast percentage of the world population that is either aligned with religion or affected by religion, philosophy of religion has a secure role in addressing people's values and commitments. A chief point of reference in much philosophy of religion is the shape and content of living traditions. In this way, philosophy of religion may be informed by the other disciplines that study religious life.

Another reason behind the importance of the field is its breadth. There are few areas of philosophy that are shorn of religious implications. Religious traditions are so comprehensive and all-encompassing in their claims that almost every domain of philosophy may be drawn upon in the philosophical investigation of their coherence, justification, and value.

A third reason is historical. Most philosophers throughout the history of ideas, east and west, have addressed religious topics. One cannot undertake a credible history of philosophy without taking philosophy of religion seriously.

While this field is vital for philosophy, philosophy of religion may also make a pivotal contribution to religious studies and theology. Religious studies often involve important methodological assumptions about history and about the nature and limits of religious experience. These invite philosophical assessment and debate. Theology may also benefit from philosophy of religion in at least two areas. Historically, theology has often been influenced by, or drawn upon, philosophy. Platonism and Aristotelianism have had a major influence on the articulation of classical Christian doctrine, and in the modern era theologians have often drawn on work by philosophers (from Hegel to Heidegger and Derrida). Another benefit lies in philosophy's tasks of clarifying, evaluating, and comparing religious beliefs. The evaluation has at times been highly critical and dismissive, but there are abundant periods in the history of ideas when philosophy has positively contributed to the flourishing of religious life. This constructive interplay in not limited to the west. The role of philosophy on distinctive Buddhist views of knowledge and the self has been of great importance. Just as philosophical ideas have fueled theological work, the great themes of theology involving God's transcendence, the divine attributes, providence, and so on, have made substantial impacts on important philosophical projects. (Hilary Putnam, for example, has linked the philosophy of truth with the concept of a God's eye point of view).

At the beginning of the 21 st century, a more general rationale for philosophy of religion should be cited: it can enhance cross-cultural dialogue. Philosophers of religion now often seek out common as well as distinguishing features of religious belief and practice. This study can enhance communication between traditions, and between religions and secular institutions.

A significant amount of work on the meaningfulness of religious language was carried out in the medieval period, with major contributions made by Maimonides (1135-1204), Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Duns Scotus (1266-1308), and William of Ockham (1285-1347). This work built on the even earlier work on Religious language by Philo (20 BCE-50CE), Clement (150-215) and Origen (185-259) of Alexandria. In the modern era, the greatest concentration on religious language has taken place in response to logical positivism and to the latter work of Wittgenstein (1889-1951). This section and the next highlights these two more recent movements.

Logical positivism promoted an empiricist principle of meaning which was deemed lethal for religious belief. The following empiricist principle is representative: for a propositional claim (statement) to be meaningful it must either be about the bare formal relations between ideas such as those enshrined in mathematics and analytic definitions (“A is A”, “triangles are three-sided”) or there must in principle be perceptual experience providing evidence of whether the claim is true or false. (The stronger version of positivism is that claims about the world must be verifiable at least in principle). Both the weaker view (with its more open ended reference to evidence) and the strict view (in principle confirmation) delimit meaningful discourse about the world. Ostensibly factual claims that have no implications for our empirical experience are empty of content. In line with this form of positivism, A. J. Ayer (1910–89) and others claimed that religious beliefs were meaningless. How might one empirically confirm that God is omnipresent or loving or that Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu? In an important debate in the 1950s and 1960s, philosophical arguments about God were likened to debates about the existence and habits of an unobservable gardener (based on a parable by John Wisdom 1944-1945). The idea of a gardener who is not just invisible but who also cannot be detected by any sensory faculty seemed nonsense. It seemed like nonsense because they said there was no difference between an imperceptible gardener and no gardener at all. Using this garden analogy and others crafted with the same design, Antony Flew (see his essay in Mitchell, 1971) made the case that religious claims do not pass the empirical test of meaning. The field of philosophy of religion in the 1950s and 1960s was largely an intellectual battlefield where the debates centered on whether religious beliefs were meaningful or conceptually absurd.

Empirical verificationism is by no means dead. Some critics of the belief in an incorporeal God continue to advance the same critique as that of Flew and Ayer, albeit with further refinements. Michael Martin and Kai Nielsen are representatives of this approach. And yet despite these efforts, empiricist challenges to the meaningfulness of religious belief are now deemed less impressive than they once were.

In the history of the debate over positivism, the most radical charge was that positivism is self-refuting. The empiricist criterion of meaning itself does not seem to be a statement that expresses the formal relation of ideas, nor does it appear to be empirically verifiable. How might one empirically verify the principle? At best, the principle of verification seems to be a recommendation as to how to describe those statements that positivists are prepared to accept as meaningful. But then, how might a dispute about which other statements are meaningful be settled in a non-arbitrary fashion? To religious believers for whom talk of “Brahman” and “God” is at the center stage of meaningful discourse, the use of the principle of empirical verification will seem arbitrary and question-begging. If the positivist principle is tightened up too far, it seems to threaten various propositions that at least appear to be highly respectable, such as scientific claims about physical processes and events that are not publicly observable. For example, what are we to think of states of the universe prior to all observation of physical strata of the cosmos that cannot be observed directly or indirectly but only inferred as part of an overriding scientific theory? Or what about the mental states of other persons, which may ordinarily be reliably judged, but which, some argue, are under-determined by external, public observation? A person's subjective states—how one feels—can be profoundly elusive to external observers and even to the person him or herself. Can you empirically observe another person's sense of happiness? Arguably, the conscious, subjective states of persons resist airtight verification and the evidence of such states is does not meet positivist's standards (van Cleve 1999, Taliaferro 1994). Also worrisome was the wholesale rejection by positivists of ethics as a cognitive, normative practice. The dismissal of ethics as non-cognitive had some embarrassing ad hominum force against an empiricist like Ayer, who regarded ethical claims as lacking any truth value and yet at the same time he construed empirical knowledge in terms of having the right to certain beliefs . Can an ethics of belief be preserved if one dispenses with the normativity of ethics?

The strict empiricist account of meaning was also charged as meaningless on the grounds that there is no coherent, clear, basic level of experience with which to test propositional claims. The experiential “given” is simply too malleable (this has been called “the myth of the given”), often reflecting prior conceptual judgments and, once one appreciates the open-textured character of experience, it may be proposed that virtually any experience can verify or provide some evidence for anything. A mystic might well claim to experience the unity of a timeless spirit everywhere present. Ayer allowed that in principle mystical experience might give meaning to religious terms. Those who concede this appeared to be on a slippery slope leading from empirical verificationism to mystical verificationism (Alston 1991). A growing number of philosophers in the 1960s and 1970s were led to conclude that the empiricist challenge was not decisive. Critical assessments of positivism can be found in work by, among others, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, and John Foster.

One of the most sustained lessons from the encounter between positivism and the philosophy of religion is the importance of assessing the meaning of individual beliefs in comprehensive terms. Carl Hempel developed the following critique of positivism, pointing the way to a more comprehensive analysis of the meaning of ostensible propositional claims. Hempel's observations apply with equal force to the philosophy of meaning and science, as well as to the philosophy of religion.

But no matter how one might reasonably delimit the class of sentences qualified to introduce empirically significant terms, this new approach [by the positivists] seems to me to lead to the realization that cognitive significance cannot well be construed as a characteristic of individual sentences, but only of more or less comprehensive systems of sentences (corresponding roughly to scientific theories). A closer study of this point suggests strongly that… the idea of cognitive significance, with its suggestion of a sharp distinction between significant and non-significant sentences or systems of such, has lost its promise and fertility… and that it had better be replaced by certain concepts which admit of differences in degree, such as the formal simplicity of a system; its explanatory and predictive power; and its degree of conformation relative to the available evidence. The analysis and theoretical reconstruction of these concepts seems to offer the most promising way of advancing further the clarification of the issues implicit in the idea of cognitive significance. (Hempel 1959, 129)

If Hempel is right, the project initiated by Ayer had to be qualified, taking into account larger theoretical frameworks. Religious claims could not be ruled out at the start but should be allowed a hearing with competing views of cognitive significance. Ronald Hepburn summarizes a widely held conviction that complements Hempel's position: “There can be no short-cut in the philosophy of religion past the painstaking examination and re-examination of problems in the entire field… . No single, decisive verification-test, no solemn Declaration of Meaninglessness, can relieve us of the labor” (Hepburn 1963, 50). Ayer himself later conceded that the positivist account of meaning was unsatisfactory (Ayer 1973).

With the retreat of positivism in the 1970s, philosophers of religion re-introduced concepts of God, competing views of the sacred, and the like, which were backed by arguments that appealed not to narrow scientific confirmation but to broad considerations of coherence, breadth of explanation, simplicity, religious experience and other factors. But before turning to this material, it is important to consider a debate within philosophy of religion that was largely inspired by the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Wittgenstein launched an attack on what has been called the picture theory of meaning, according to which statements may be judged true or false depending upon whether reality matches the picture represented by the belief. This understanding of truth and beliefs—which is similar to the correspondence theory of truth in which the statement “God exists” is true if and only if God exists—seemed to Wittgenstein to be misguided. It gives rise to insoluble philosophical problems and it misses the whole point of having religious beliefs, which is that their meaning is to be found in the life in which they are employed. By shifting attention away from the referential meaning of words to their use, Wittgenstein promoted the idea that we should attend to what he called forms of life . As this move was applied to religious matters, a number of philosophers either denied or at least played down the extent to which religious forms of life involve metaphysical claims. Norman Malcolm, B. R. Tilghman, and D. Z. Phillips have all promoted this approach to religion. It may be considered non-realist in the sense that it does not treat religious beliefs as straightforward metaphysical claims that can be adjudicated philosophically as either true or false concerning an objective reality. By their lights, the traditional metaphysics of theism got what it deserved when it came under attack in the mid-twentieth century by positivists.

This Wittgensteinian challenge, then, appears to place in check much of the way philosophers in the west have approached religion. When, for example, Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, and Hume argued for and against the justification of belief in God, metaphysics was at the forefront. They were interested in the best possible arguments for and against God's existence. The same preoccupation with the truth or falsehood of religious belief is also central to ancient and medieval philosophical reflection about the Divine. When Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas articulated arguments for God's existence they were engaged in full-fledged metaphysics.

At least two reasons may support recent non-realism. First, it has some credibility based on the sociology of religion. In the practice of religion it appears that we have something more (one might well say something deeper) than “mere” metaphysical theorizing. Religion seems pre-eminently to be focused upon how we live. Phillips has examined different religious practices such as prayer and the belief in an afterlife, concluding that both are intelligible because the motives behind each can be held intact without any of the metaphysical “baggage” traditionally linked with them. For example, prayer to God by parents for the recovery of a child's health may be understood as an expression of their anguish and an effort to center their hope on the child's getting better and not as an attempt to influence God's to violate the laws of nature in miraculously healing their child.

A second reason that might be offered is that the classical and contemporary arguments for specific views of God have seemed unsuccessful to many philosophers (though not to all, as observed in section 4.2, below). Tilghman takes this line and argues that if the traditional arguments for God's existence are re-interpreted as part of religious life and not treated as if they were adjudicating metaphysical truth-claims, then they have an intelligibility and force that they otherwise lack.

Non-realist views have their critics from the vantage point both of atheists such as Michael Martin and theists such as Roger Trigg. By way of a preliminary response it may be pointed out that even if a non-realist approach is adopted this would not mean altogether jettisoning the more traditional approach to religious beliefs. If one of the reasons advanced on behalf of non-realism is that the traditional project fails, then ongoing philosophy of religion will still require investigating to determine whether in fact the tradition does fail. As John Dewey once observed, philosophical ideas not only never die, they never fade away.

A more substantial reply to Wittgensteinian non-realism has been the charge that it does not preserve but instead undermines the very intelligibility of religious practice. Let us concede that religious practice is antecedent to philosophical theories that justify the practice—a concession not shared by all. Even so, if one engages in a religious practice, such as prayer to God or Buddhist meditation to see through the illusion of having a substantial, enduring ego, the development of some sort of philosophical theory to make sense of this practice seems inevitable. Once such a theory is in place (and historically there have been no lack of these theories), it makes sense to raise the question of its truth. While Malcolm has proposed that it makes sense to believe in God without believing that God exists , others have submitted that lack of belief that God exists makes belief in God meaningless. Belief that X is prior to belief in X. One may hope that something will occur (a child recovers from illness) without the accompanying belief it will occur, but it is more puzzling to suppose one can trust a Divine being, without believing or hoping there is some Divine reality there to rely upon.

While non-realism might seem to lay the groundwork for greater tolerance between religions (and between religions and the secular world) because it subverts the battle over which religion has a true picture of the cosmos, critics have lamented the loss of a normative way of choosing between religions, ways that seem to be used in commonplace philosophical reflection on the merits of religion. So, today it is still not at all unusual for people to claim they have changed religions (or stayed with their own or abandoned all religion or converted to a religion), for reasons like the appeal to religious experience, answered or unanswered prayer, miracles or the lack of them, moral and cultural relativism, an overwhelming sense of the reality of good and evil, and so on.

Although realists and non-realists are at odds in debate, each side can learn from the other. Non-realists can consider the realist approach to divine attributes and a philosophy of God as reflections of a religious form of life. And a realist philosophical treatment of God's goodness may reveal important insights about practical religious forms of life. On the other hand, the non-realist approach to religion may offer a fitting caution to realists about approaching religion as a mere theoretical, abstract enterprise. Imagining a middle ground is not easy, however. D. Z. Phillips writes:

To ask whether God exists is not to ask a theoretical question. If it is to mean anything at all, it is to wonder about praising and praying; it is to wonder whether there is anything in all that. This is why philosophy cannot answer the question “Does God exist?” with either an affirmative or a negative reply … . “There is a God”, though it appears to be in the indicative mood, is an expression of faith (Phillips 1976, 181).

To successfully secure a position somewhere in between extreme non-realism and realism one would need to see the intelligibility of asking both theoretical questions such as “Is there a God?” as well as searching out the meaningful practices of faith, praise and prayer.

4. The Concept of God

Most philosophy of religion in the west has focused on different versions of theism. Ancient philosophy of religion wrestled with the credibility of monotheism and polytheism in opposition to skepticism and very primitive naturalistic schemes. For example, Plato argued that the view that God is singularly good should be preferred to the portrait of the gods that was articulated in Greek poetic tradition, according to which there are many gods, often imperfect and subject to vice and ignorance. The emergence and development of Judaism, Christianity and Islam on a global scale secured the centrality of theism for philosophical enquiry, but the relevance of a philosophical exploration of theism is not limited to those interested in these religions and the cultures in which they flourish. While theism has generally flourished in religious traditions amid religious practices, one may be a theist without adopting any religion whatever, and one may find theistic elements (however piecemeal) in Confucianism, Hinduism, some versions of Mahayana Buddhism, as well as in the religions of some smaller scale societies. The debate over theism also has currency for secular humanism and religious forms of atheism as in Theravada Buddhist philosophy. Consider first the philosophical project of articulating theism and then the philosophy of divine attributes.

Terms applied both to God and to any aspect of the world have been classified as either univocal (sharing the same sense), equivocal (used in different senses) or analogical . There are a range of accounts of analogous predication, but the most common — and the one assumed here — is that terms are used analogously when their use in different cases (John limps and the argument limps) is based on what is believed to be a resemblance. It seems clear that many terms used to describe God in theistic traditions are used analogously, as when God is referred to as a father, shepherd, or fountain. More difficult to classify are descriptions of God as good, personal, knowing, omnipresent, and creative. Heated philosophical and theological disputes centre on unpacking the meaning of such descriptions, disputes that are often carried out with the use of thought experiments.

In thought experiments, hypothetical cases are described—cases that may or may not represent the way things are. In these descriptions, terms normally used in one context are employed in expanded settings. Thus, in thinking of God as omniscient, one might begin with a non-controversial case of a person knowing that a proposition is true, taking note of what it means for someone to possess that knowledge and of the ways in which the knowledge is secured. A theistic thought experiment would seek to extend our understanding of knowledge as we think of it in our own case, working toward the conception of a maximum or supreme intellectual excellence befitting the religious believers' understanding of God. Various degrees of refinement would then be in order, as one speculates not only about the extent of a maximum set of propositions known but also about how these might be known. That is, in attributing omniscience to God, would one thereby claim God knows all truths in a way that is analogous to the way we come to know truths about the world? Too close an analogy would produce a peculiar picture of God relying upon, for example, induction, sensory evidence or the testimony of others. One move in the philosophy of God has been to assert that the claim “God knows something” employs the word “knows” univocally when read as picking out the thesis that God knows something, while it uses the term in only a remotely analogical sense if read as identifying how God knows (Swinburne, 1977).

Here a medieval distinction comes into play between the res significata (what is asserted — for instance, that God knows X) and modus significandi (the mode or manner in which what is signified is realized or brought about—for instance, how God knows X). We might have a good grasp of what is meant by the claim that a being is omniscient while having little idea of how a being might be so. Thought experiments aimed at giving some sense to the Divine attribute of omniscience have been advanced by drawing attention to the way we know some things immediately (bodily positions, feelings and intentions), and then by extending this, coaxing us into conceiving a being that knows all things about itself and the cosmos immediately (see Beaty, 1991 for a constructive view and Blumenfeld in Morris (ed.), 1987 for criticism).

Utilizing thought experiments and language in this way, philosophical theology has a stake in the soundness and richness of the imagination, picturing the way things might be “in one's mind's eye,” whether or not this relies on any actual imagery. Philosophers are now more cautious about drawing such inferences as we are increasingly aware of how some features of an imagined state of affairs might be misconceived or overlooked. Even so, it has been argued that if a state of affairs appears to one to be possible after careful reflection, checking it against one's background knowledge in other areas, then there is at least some warrant in judging the state of affairs to be a bona fide possibility (Sorensen, 1992; see also Taliaferro 2002).

Work on the divine attributes has been vast. To generate a portrait of the literature on divine attributes, consider the issues that arise in reflection on omniscience, eternity, and goodness.

Omniscience : Imagine there is a God who knows the future free action of human beings. If God does know you will freely do some act X, then it is true that you will indeed do X. But if you are free, would you not be free to avoid doing X? Given that it is foreknown you will do X, it appears you would not be free to refrain from the act.

Initially this paradox seems easy to dispel. If God knows about your free action, then God knows that you will freely do something and that you could have refrained from it. God's foreknowing the act does not make it necessary. Does not the paradox only arise because we confuse two propositions: “Necessarily, if God knows X, then X” with “ If God knows X, then necessarily X?” After all, it is necessarily the case that if I know you are reading this entry right now, then it follows that you are reading this entry, but your reading this entry may still be seen to be a contingent state of affairs. But the problem is not so easily diffused, however, because if God does infallibly know that some state of affairs obtains then it cannot be that the state of affairs does not obtain. Think of what is sometimes called the necessity of the past. Once a state of affairs has obtained, it is unalterably or necessarily the case that it did occur . If the future is known precisely and comprehensively, isn't the future like the past, necessarily or unalterably the case? If the problem is put in first-person terms and one imagines God foreknows you will freely turn to a different entry in this Encyclopedia (moreover, God knows with unsurpassable precision when you will do so, which entry you will select and what you will think about it), then an easy resolution of the paradox seems elusive. To highlight the nature of this problem imagine God tells you what you will freely do in the next hour. Under such conditions, is it still intelligible to believe you have the ability to do otherwise if it is known by God as well as yourself what you will indeed elect to do? Self-foreknowledge, then, produces an additional related problem because the psychology of choice seems to require prior ignorance about what we will choose.

Various replies to the freedom-foreknowledge debate have been given. Some adopt compatibilism, affirming the compatibility of free will and determinism, and conclude that foreknowledge is no more threatening to freedom than determinism. While some prominent philosophical theists in the past have taken this route (most dramatically Jonathan Edwards in the eighteenth century), this seems to be the minority position in philosophy of Religion today (exceptions include Paul Helm and Lynne Baker). A second position involves adhering to the libertarian outlook of insisting that freedom involves a radical, indeterminist exercise of power, and concludes that God cannot know future free action. What prevents such philosophers from denying that God is omniscient is that they contend there are no truths about future free actions or some say that while there are truths about the future God freely decides not to know them in order to preserve free choice. On the first view, prior to someone's doing a free action, there is no fact of the matter that he or she will do a given act. This is in keeping with a traditional, but controversial, interpretation of Aristotle's philosophy of time and truth. Aristotle may have thought it was neither true nor false prior to a given sea battle whether a given side would win it. Some theists, such as Richard Swinburne, adopt this line today, holding that the future cannot be known. If it cannot be known for metaphysical reasons, then omniscience can be analyzed as knowing all that it is possible to know . That God cannot know future free action is no more of a mark against God's being omniscient than God's inability to make square circles is a mark against God's being omnipotent. Other philosophers deny the original paradox. They insist that God's foreknowledge is compatible with libertarian freedom and seek to resolve the quandary by claiming that God is not bound in time (God does not so much foreknow the future as God knows what for us is the future from an eternal viewpoint) and by arguing that the unique vantage point of an omniscient God prevents any impingement on freedom. God can simply know the future without this having to be grounded on an established, determinate future. But this only works if there is no necessity of eternity analogous to the necessity of the past. Why think that we have any more control over God's timeless belief than over God's past belief? If not, then there is an exactly parallel dilemma of timeless knowledge. For outstanding current analysis of freedom and foreknowledge, see the work of Linda Zagzebski.

Eternity : Could there be a being that is outside time? In the great monotheistic traditions, God is thought of as without any kind of beginning or end. God will never, indeed, can never, cease to be. Some philosophical theists hold that God's temporality is very much like ours in the sense that there is a before, during and an after for God or a past, present, and future for God. This view is sometimes referred to as the thesis that God is everlasting. Those adopting a more radical stance claim that God is independent of temporality, arguing either that God is not in time at all, or that God is “simultaneously” at or in all times. This is sometimes called the view that God is eternal as opposed to everlasting.

Why adopt the more radical stance? One reason, already noted, is that if God is not temporally bound, there may be a resolution to the earlier problem of reconciling freedom and foreknowledge. As Augustine put it: “For He does not pass from this to that by transition of thought, but beholds all things with absolute unchangeableness; so that of those things which emerge in time, the future, indeed, are not yet, and the present are now, and the past no longer are; but all of these are by Him comprehended in His stable and eternal presence” ( The City of God , 1972, XI, 21). If God is outside time, there may also be a secure foundation explaining God's immutability (changelessness), incorruptibility and immortality. Furthermore, there may be an opportunity to use God's standing outside of time to launch an argument that God is the creator of time.

Those affirming God to be unbounded by temporal sequences face several puzzles which I note without trying to settle. If God is somehow at or in all times, is God simultaneously at or in each? If so, there is the following problem. If God is simultaneous with the event of Rome burning in 410, and also simultaneous with your reading this entry, then it seems that Rome must be burning at the same time you are reading this entry. (This problem was advanced by Nelson Pike; Stump and Kretzmann have replied that the simultaneity involved in God's eternal knowledge is not transitive). A different problem arises with respect to eternity and omniscience. If God is outside of time, can God know what time it is now? Arguably, there is a fact of the matter that it is now, say, midnight on 1 July 2007. A God outside of time might know that at midnight on 1 July 2007 certain things occur, but could God know when it is now that time? The problem is that the more emphasis we place on the claim that God's supreme existence is independent of time, the more we seem to jeopardize taking seriously time as we know it. Finally, while the great monotheistic traditions provide a portrait of the Divine as supremely different from the creation, there is also an insistence on God's proximity or immanence. For some theists, describing God as a person or person-like (God loves, acts, knows) is not to equivocate. But it is not clear that an eternal God could be personal.

The goodness of God : All known world religions address the nature of good and evil and commend ways of achieving human well-being, whether this be thought of in terms of salvation, liberation, deliverance, enlightenment, tranquility or an egoless state of Nirvana. Notwithstanding important differences, there is a substantial overlap between many of these conceptions of the good as witnessed by the commending of the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) in many religions. Some religions construe the Divine as in some respect beyond our human notions of good and evil. In some forms of Hinduism, for example, Brahman has been extolled as possessing a sort of moral transcendence, and some Christian theologians and philosophers have likewise insisted that God is only a moral agent in a highly qualified sense, if at all (Brian Davies). To call God good is, for them, very different from calling a human being good.

Here I note only some of the ways in which philosophers have articulated what it means to call God good. In treating the matter, there has been a tendency either to explain God's goodness in terms of standards that are not God's creation and thus, in some measure, independent of God's will, or in terms of God's will and the standards God has created. The latter view has been termed theistic voluntarism. A common version of theistic voluntarism is the claim that for something to be good or right simply means that it is willed by God and for something to be evil or wrong means that it is forbidden by God.

Theistic voluntarists face several difficulties: moral language seems intelligible without having to be explained in terms of the Divine will. Indeed, many people make what they take to be objective moral judgments without making any reference to God. If they are using moral language intelligibly, how could it be that the very meaning of such moral language should be analyzed in terms of Divine volitions? New work in the philosophy of language may be of use to theistic voluntarists. According to a causal theory of reference, “water” necessarily designates H 2 O. It is not a contingent fact that water is H 2 O notwithstanding the fact that many people can use the term “water” without knowing its composition. Similarly, could it not be the case that “good” may refer to that which is willed by God even though many people are not aware of (or even deny) the existence of God? Another difficulty for voluntarism lies in accounting for the apparent meaningful content of claims like “God is good.” It appears that in calling God “good” the religious believer is saying more than “God wills what God wills.” If so, must not the very notion of goodness have some meaning independent of God's will? Also at issue is the worry that if voluntarism is accepted, the theist has threatened the normative objectivity of moral judgments. Could God make it the case that moral judgments were turned upside down? For example, could God make cruelty good? Arguably, the moral universe is not so malleable. In reply, some voluntarists have sought to understand the stability of the moral laws in light of God's immutably fixed, necessary nature.

By understanding God's goodness in terms of God's being (as opposed to God's will alone), we come close to the non-voluntarist stand. Aquinas and others hold that God is essentially good in virtue of God's very being. All such positions are non-voluntarist in so far as they do not claim that what it means for something to be good is that God wills it to be so. The goodness of God may be articulated in various ways, either by arguing that God's perfection requires God being good as an agent or by arguing that God's goodness can be articulated in terms of other Divine attributes such as those outlined above. For example, because knowledge is in itself good, omniscience is a supreme good. God has also been considered good in so far as God has created and conserves in existence a good cosmos. Debates over the problem of evil (if God is indeed omnipotent and perfectly good, why is there evil?) have poignancy precisely because they challenge this chief judgment over God's goodness. (The debate over the problem of evil is taken up in section 4.2)

The choice between voluntarism and seeing God's very being as good is rarely strict. Some theists who oppose a full-scale voluntarism allow for partial voluntarist elements. According to one such moderate stance, while God cannot make cruelty good, God can make some actions morally required or morally forbidden which otherwise would be morally neutral. Arguments for this have been based on the thesis that the cosmos and all its contents are God's creation. According to some theories of property, an agent making something good gains entitlements over the property. The crucial moves in arguments that the cosmos and its contents belong to their Creator have been to guard against the idea that human parents would then “own” their children (they do not, because parents are not radical creators like God), and the idea that Divine ownership would permit anything, thus construing our duties owed to God as the duties of a slave to a master (a view to which not all theists have objected). Theories spelling out why and how the cosmos belongs to God have been prominent in all three monotheistic traditions. Plato defended the notion, as did Aquinas and Locke. (See Brody, 1974 for a defense.)

One other effort worth noting to link judgments of good and evil with judgments about God relies upon the ideal observer theory of ethics. According to this theory, moral judgments can be analyzed in terms of how an ideal observer would judge matters. To say an act is right entails a commitment to holding that if there were an ideal observer, it would approve of the act; to claim an act is wrong entails the thesis that if there were an ideal observer, it would disapprove of it. The theory can be found in work by Hume, Adam Smith, Hare and Firth (1970). The ideal observer is variously described, but typically is thought of as impartial, omniscient regarding non-moral facts (facts that can be grasped without already knowing the moral status or implications of the fact — for instance, “He did something bad” is a moral fact; “He hit Smith” is not), and as omnipercipient (Firth's term for adopting a position of universal affective appreciation of the points of view of all involved parties). The theory receives some support from the fact that most moral disputes can be analyzed in terms of different parties challenging each other to be impartial, to get their empirical facts straight, and to be more sensitive — for example, by realizing what it feels like to be disadvantaged. The theory has formidable critics and defenders. If true, it does not follow that there is an ideal observer, but if it is true and moral judgments are coherent, then the idea of an ideal observer is coherent. Given certain conceptions of God in the three great monotheistic traditions, God fits the ideal observer description (and more besides, of course). Should an ideal observer theory be cogent, a theist would have some reason for claiming that atheists committed to normative, ethical judgments are also committed to the idea of a God or a God-like being.

In some introductory philosophy textbooks and anthologies, the arguments for God's existence are presented as ostensible proofs which are then shown to be fallible. For example, an argument from the apparent order and purposive nature of the cosmos will be criticized on the grounds that, at best, the argument would establish there is a purposive, designing intelligence at work in the cosmos. This falls far short of establishing that there is a God who is omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent, and so on. But two comments need to be made: First, that “meager” conclusion alone would be enough to disturb a scientific naturalist who wishes to rule out all such transcendent intelligence. Second, few philosophers today advance a single argument as a proof. Customarily, a design argument might be advanced along side an argument from religious experience, and the other arguments to be considered below. True to Hempel's advice (cited earlier) about comprehensive inquiry, it is increasingly common to see philosophies—scientific naturalism or theism—advanced with cumulative arguments, a whole range of considerations, and not with a supposed knock-down, single proof.

One reason why the case for and against major, comprehensive philosophies are mostly cumulative is because of discontent in what is often called foundationalism . In one classical form of foundationalism, one secures first and foremost a basis of beliefs which one may see to be true with certainty. The base may be cast as indubitable or infallible. One then slowly builds up the justification for one's other, more extensive beliefs about oneself and the world. Many (but not all) philosophers now see justification as more complex and interwoven; the proper object of philosophical inquiry is overall coherence, not a series of distinguishable building operations beginning with a foundation.

One way of carrying out philosophy of religion along non-foundationalist lines has been to build a case for the comparative rationality of a religious view of the world. It has been argued that the intellectual integrity of a religious world view can be secured if it can be shown to be no less rational than the available alternatives. It need only achieve intellectual parity. John Hick and others emphasize the integrity of religious ways of seeing the world that are holistic, internally coherent, and open to criticism along various external lines. On the latter front, if a religious way of conceiving the world is at complete odds with contemporary science, that would count as good grounds for revising the religious outlook. The case for religion need not, however, be scientific or even analogous to science. If Hick is right, religious ways of seeing the world are not incompatible with science, but complementary. Independent of Hick but in the same spirit, Plantinga has proposed that belief in God's existence may be taken as properly basic and fully warranted without having to be justified in relation to standard arguments for God from design, miracles and so on. Plantinga argues that the tendency to believe in God follows natural tendencies of the human mind. This stance comprises what is commonly referred to as Reformed Epistemology because of its leaning on work by the Reformed theologian John Calvin (1509–64) who maintained that we have a sense of God ( sensus divinitatus ) leading us to see God in the world around us. Plantinga has thereby couched the question of justification within the larger arena of metaphysics. By advancing an intricate, comprehensive picture of how beliefs can be warranted when they function as God designed them, he has provided what some believe to be a combined metaphysical and epistemic case for the rationality of religious convictions.

Who has the burden of proof in a debate between a theist and an atheist? Antony Flew (1984) thinks it is the theist. By his lights, the theist and atheist can agree on a whole base line of truths (such as the findings of the physical sciences). The question then becomes, Why go any further? Flew wields a version of Ockham's razor, arguing that if one has no reason to go further, one has reason not to go further. His challenge has been met on various fronts, with some critics claiming that Flew's burden of proof argument is wedded to an outmoded foundationalism, that any burden of proof is shared equally by atheists and theists, or that the theist has an array of arguments to help shoulder a greater burden of proof. The position of fideism is a further option. Fideism is the view that religious belief does not require evidence and that religious faith is self-vindicating. Karl Barth (1886–1968) advocated a fideistic philosophy. Hick and Plantinga need not be considered fideists because of the high role each gives to experience, coherence and reflection.

Table 1 lists some key theistic arguments, along with some of the leading advocates.

Ontological S.T. Davis, D. Dombrowski, C. Dore, N. Malcolm, A. Plantinga, J. Ross, W. Rowe, R. Swinburne, R. Taylor Cosmological W. Craig, S.T.Davis, H. Meynell, B. Miller, R. Purtill, W. Rowe (partial advocate), R. Gale, A. Pruss, R. Koons Design D. and R. Basinger, W. Craig, S.T. Davis, R.A. Larmer, R. Swinburne, R. Collins Miracles W. Craig, P. Dietl, J. Earman, D. Geivett, R. Swinburne Values—Moral Experience P. Copan, C.S. Evans, A.C. Ewing, G. Mavrodes, H.P. Owen, M. Wynn Argument from Consciousness R.M. Adams, J.P. Moreland, M. Rea, R. Swinburne Religious Experience W. Alston, C. Frank, G. Gutting, R. Swinburne, W. Wainwright, K. Yandell Cognition R. Creel, A. Plantinga, R. Taylor Wager Arguments N. Rescher, G. Schlesinger, T.V. Morris Table 1. Theistic Arguments

To sketch some of the main lines of argument in this literature, consider the ontological, cosmological, and teleological, arguments the problem of evil, and the debate over the cognitive status of religious experience.

Ontological arguments : There is a host of arguments under this title; all of them are based principally on conceptual, a priori grounds which do not involve a posteriori empirical investigation. If a version of the argument works, then it can be deployed using only the concept of God and some modal principles of inference, that is, principles concerning possibility and necessity. The argument need not resist all empirical support, however, as I shall indicate.

The focus of the argument is the thesis that, if there is a God, then God's existence is necessary. God's existence is not contingent—God is not the sort of being that just happens to exist. That this is a plausible picture of what is meant by God may be shown by appealing to the way God is conceived in Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions. This would involve some a posteriori , empirical research into the way God is thought of in these traditions. Alternatively, a defender of the ontological argument might hope to convince others that the concept of God is the concept of a being that exists necessarily by beginning with the idea of a maximally excellent being. If there were a maximally excellent being what would it be like? It has been argued that among its array of great-making qualities (omniscience and omnipotence) would be necessary existence. Once fully articulated, it can be argued that a maximally excellent being, which existed necessarily, could be called “God.”

The ontological argument goes back to St. Anselm, but I shall explore a current version relying heavily on the principle that if something (1033/34-1109) is possibly necessarily the case, then it is necessarily the case (or, to put it redundantly, it is necessarily necessary). The principle can be illustrated in the case of propositions. Six is the smallest perfect number (that number which is equal to the sum of its divisors including one but not including itself) does not seem to be the sort of thing that might just happen to be true. Rather, either it is necessarily true or necessarily false. If the latter, it is not possible, if the former, it is possible. If one knows that it is possible that six is the smallest perfect number then one has good reason to believe that. Do we have reason to think it is possible God exists necessarily? In support of this, one can also appeal to a posteriori matters, noting the extant religious traditions that uphold such a notion. The fact that the concept of God as a necessarily existing reality seems to be coherently conceived widely across time and cultures is some evidence that the concept is coherent (it is possible there is a God), for God's existence has plausibility, thus can also contribute to believing it is possible God exists. There is an old philosophical precept that from the fact that something exists, it follows that it is possible ( ab esse ed posse valet consequential ). A related principle is that evidence that something exists is evidence that it is possible that such a thing exists. There does not appear to be anything amiss in their thinking of God as necessarily existing; if the belief that God exists is incoherent this is not obvious. Indeed, a number of atheists think God might exist, but conclude God does not. If we are successful in establishing the possibility that God necessarily exists, the conclusion follows that it is necessarily the case that God exists.

There have been hundreds of objections and replies to this argument. Perhaps the most ambitious objection is that the argument can be used with one minor alteration to argue that God cannot exist. Assume all the argument above but also that it is possible God does not exist. Atheists can point out that many theists who believe there is a God at least allow for the bare possibility that they could be wrong and there is no God. If it is possible that there is no God, then it would necessarily follow that there is no God. Replies to this objection emphasize the difficulty of conceiving of the non-existence of God. The battle over whether God is necessary or impossible is often fought over the coherence of the various divine attributes discussed in section 3. If you think these attributes are compossible, involve no contradictions, and violate no known metaphysical truths, then you may well have good grounds for concluding that God is possible and therefore necessary. However, if you see a contradiction, say, in describing a being who is at once omniscient and omnipotent, you may well have good grounds for concluding that God's existence is impossible.

Another objection is that it makes no sense to think of a being existing necessarily; propositions may be necessarily true or false, but objects cannot be necessary or contingent. Some philosophers reply that it makes no less sense to think of an individual (God) existing necessarily than it does to think of propositions being necessarily true.

A further objection is that the ontological argument cannot get off the ground because of the question-begging nature of its premise that if there is a God, then God exists necessarily. Does admitting this premise concede that there is some individual thing such that if it exists, it exists necessarily? Replies have claimed that the argument only requires one to consider an ostensible state of affairs, without having to concede initially whether the state of affairs is possible or impossible. To consider what is involved in positing the existence of God is no more hazardous than considering what is involved in positing the existence of unicorns. One can entertain the existence of unicorns and their necessary features (that necessarily if there were unicorns, there would exist single-horned beasts) without believing that there are unicorns.

Finally, consider the objection that, if successful in providing reasons to believe that God exists, the ontological argument could be used to establish the existence of a whole array of other items, like perfect islands. Replies to this sort of objection have typically questioned whether it makes sense to think of an island (a physical thing) as existing necessarily or as having maximal excellence on a par with God. Does the imagined island have excellences like omniscience, omnipotence (a power which would include the power to make indefinitely many islands), and so on?

Classical, alternative versions of the ontological argument are propounded by Anselm, Spinoza and Descartes, with current versions by Alvin Plantinga, Charles Hartshorne, Norman Malcolm, and C. Dore; classical critics include Gaunilo and Kant, and current critics are many, including William Rowe, J. Barnes, G. Oppy and J. L. Mackie. The latest book-length treatment of the ontological argument is a vigorous defense: Rethinking the Ontological Argument by Daniel Dombrowski (2006).

Cosmological arguments : Arguments in this vein are more firmly planted in empirical, a posteriori reflection, but some versions employ a priori reasons as well. There are various versions. Some argue that the cosmos had an initial cause outside it, a First Cause in time. Others argue that the cosmos has a necessary, sustaining cause from instant to instant. The two versions are not mutually exclusive, for it is possible both that the cosmos had a First Cause and that it currently has a sustaining cause.

The cosmological argument relies on the intelligibility of the notion of something which is not itself caused to exist by anything else. This could be either the all-out necessity of supreme pre-eminence across all possible worlds used in versions of the ontological argument, or a more local, limited notion of a being that is uncaused in the actual world. If successful, the argument would provide reason for thinking there is at least one such being of extraordinary power responsible for the existence of the cosmos. At best, it may not justify a full picture of the God of religion (a First Cause would be powerful, but not necessarily omnipotent), but it would nonetheless challenge naturalistic alternatives and bring one closer to theism.

Both versions of the argument ask us to consider the cosmos in its present state. Is the world as we know it something that necessarily exists? At least with respect to ourselves, the planet, the solar system and the galaxy, it appears not. With respect to these items in the cosmos, it makes sense to ask why they exist rather than not. In relation to scientific accounts of the natural world, such enquiries into causes make abundant sense and are perhaps even essential presuppositions of the natural sciences. Some proponents of the argument contend that we know a priori that if something exists there is a reason for its existence. So, why does the cosmos exist? If we explain the contingent existence of the cosmos (or states of the cosmos) only in terms of other contingent things (earlier states of the cosmos, say), then a full cosmic explanation will never be attained. At this point the two versions of the argument divide.

Arguments to a First Cause in time contend that a continuous temporal regress from one contingent existence to another would never account for the existence of the cosmos, and they conclude that it is more reasonable to accept there was a First Cause than to accept either a regress or the claim that the cosmos just came into being from nothing. Arguments to a sustaining cause of the cosmos claim that explanations of why something exists now cannot be adequate without assuming a present, contemporaneous sustaining cause. The arguments have been based on the denial of all actual infinities or on the acceptance of some infinities (for instance, the coherence of supposing there to be infinitely many stars) combined with the rejection of an infinite regress of explanations solely involving contingent states of affairs. The latter has been described as a vicious regress as opposed to one that is benign. There are plausible examples of vicious infinite regresses that do not generate explanations: for instance, imagine that I explain my possession of a book by reporting that I got it from A who got it from B, and so on to infinity. This would not explain how I got the book. Alternatively, imagine a mirror with light reflected in it. Would the presence of light be successfully explained if one claimed that the light was a reflection of light from another mirror, and the light in that mirror came from yet another mirror, and so on to infinity? Consider a final case. You come across a word you do not understand; let it be “ongggt”. You ask its meaning and are given another word which is unintelligible to you, and so on, forming an infinite regress. Would you ever know the meaning of the first term? The force of these cases is to show how similar they are to the regress of contingent explanations.

Versions of the argument that reject all actual infinities face the embarrassment of explaining what is to be made of the First Cause, especially since it might have some features that are actually infinite. In reply, Craig and others have contended that they have no objection to potential infinities (although the First Cause will never cease to be, it will never become an actual infinity). They further accept that prior to the creation, the First Cause was not in time; a position relying on the theory that time is relational rather than absolute. The current scientific popularity of the relational view may offer support to defenders of the argument.

It has been objected that both versions of the cosmological argument set out an inflated picture of what explanations are reasonable. Why should the cosmos as a whole need an explanation? If everything in the cosmos can be explained, albeit through infinite, regressive accounts, what is left to explain? One may reply, either by denying that infinite regresses actually do satisfactorily explain or by charging that the failure to seek an explanation for the whole is arbitrary. The question, “Why is there a cosmos?” seems a perfectly intelligible one. If there are accounts for things in the cosmos, why not for the whole? The argument is not built on the fallacy of treating every whole as having all the properties of its parts. But if everything in the cosmos is contingent, it seems just as reasonable to believe that the whole cosmos is contingent as it is to believe that if everything in the cosmos is invisible, the cosmos as a whole would be invisible.

Another objection is that rather than explaining the contingent cosmos, the cosmological argument introduces a mysterious entity of which we can make very little philosophical or scientific sense. How can positing at least one First Cause provide a better account of the cosmos than simply concluding that the cosmos lacks an ultimate account? In the end, the theist seems bound to admit that why the First Cause created at all was a contingent matter. If, on the contrary, the theist has to claim that the First Cause had to do what it did, would not the cosmos be necessary rather than contingent?

Some theists come close to concluding that it was indeed essential that God created the cosmos. If God is supremely good, there had to be some overflowing of goodness in the form of a cosmos (see Kretzmann and Stump in Morris, 1987, on the ideas of Dionysius the Areopagite). But theists typically reserve some role for the freedom of God and thus seek to retain the idea that the cosmos is contingent. Defenders of the cosmological argument still contend that its account of the cosmos has a comprehensive simplicity lacking in alternative views. God's choices may be contingent, but not God's existence and the Divine choice of creating the cosmos can be understood to be profoundly simple in its supreme, overriding endeavor, namely to create something good. Swinburne has argued that accounting for natural laws in terms of God's will provides for a simple, overarching framework in terms of which to comprehend the order and purposive character of the cosmos. At this point we move from the cosmological to the teleological arguments.

Defenders of the cosmological argument include Swinburne, Richard Taylor, Hugo Meynell, Bruce Reichenbach, Robert Koons, and William Rowe; prominent opponents include Antony Flew, Michael Martin, Howard Sobel, Nicholas Everitt, and J. L Mackie.

Teleological arguments : These arguments focus on characteristics of the cosmos that seem to reflect the design or intentionality of God or, more modestly, of one or more powerful, intelligent God-like agents. Part of the argument may be formulated as providing evidence that the cosmos is the sort of reality that would be produced by an intelligent being, and then arguing that positing this source is more reasonable than agnosticism or denying it. As in the case of the cosmological argument, the defender of the teleological argument may want to claim only to be giving us some reason for thinking there is a God. Note the way the various arguments might then be brought to bear on each other. If successful, the teleological argument may provide some reason for thinking that the First Cause of the cosmological argument is purposive, while the ontological argument provides some reason for thinking that it makes sense to posit a being that has Divine attributes and necessarily exists. Behind all of them an argument from religious experience may provide some initial reasons to seek further support for a religious conception of the cosmos and to question the adequacy of naturalism.

One version of the teleological argument will depend on the intelligibility of purposive explanation. In our own human case it appears that intentional, purposive explanations are legitimate and can truly account for the nature and occurrence of events. In thinking about an explanation for the ultimate character of the cosmos, is it more likely for the cosmos to be accounted for in terms of a powerful, intelligent agent or in terms of a naturalistic scheme of final laws with no intelligence behind them? Theists employing the teleological argument will draw attention to the order and stability of the cosmos, the emergence of vegetative and animal life, the existence of consciousness, morality, rational agents and the like, in an effort to identify what might plausibly be seen as purposively explicable features of the cosmos. Naturalistic explanations, whether in biology or physics, are then cast as being comparatively local in application when held up against the broader schema of a theistic metaphysics. Darwinian accounts of biological evolution will not necessarily assist us in thinking through why there are either any such laws or any organisms to begin with. Arguments supporting and opposing the teleological argument will then resemble arguments about the cosmological argument, with the negative side contending that there is no need to move beyond a naturalistic account, and the positive side aiming to establish that failing to go beyond naturalism is unreasonable.

In assessing the teleological argument, we can begin with the objection from uniqueness. We cannot compare our cosmos with others, determining which have been designed and which have not. If we could, then we might be able to find support for the argument. If we could compare our cosmos with those we knew to be designed and if the comparison were closer than with those we knew not to be designed, then the argument might be plausible. Without such comparisons, however, the argument fails. Replies to this line of attack have contended that were we to insist that inferences in unique cases were out of order, then we would have to rule out otherwise perfectly respectable scientific accounts of the origin of the cosmos. Besides, while it is not possible to compare the layout of different cosmic histories, it is in principle possible to envisage worlds that seem chaotic, random or based on the laws that cripple the emergence of life. Now we can envisage an intelligent being creating such worlds, but, through considering their features, we can articulate some marks of purposive design to help us judge whether the cosmos was designed rather than created at random. Some critics appeal to the possibility that the cosmos has an infinite history to bolster and re-introduce the uniqueness objection. Given infinite time and chance, it seems likely that something like our world will come into existence, with all its appearance of design. If so, why should we take it to be so shocking that our world has its apparent design and why should explaining the world require positing one or more intelligent designers? Replies repeat the earlier move of insisting that if the objection were to be decisive, then many seemingly respectable accounts would also have to fall by the wayside. It is often conceded that the teleological argument does not demonstrate that one or more designers are required; it seeks rather to establish that positing such purposive intelligence is reasonable and preferable to naturalism. Recent defenders of the argument this century include George Schlesinger, Robin Collins, and Richard Swinburne. It is rejected by J. L. Mackie, Michael Martin, Nicholas Everitt, and others.

One feature of the teleological argument currently receiving increased attention focuses on epistemology. It has been contended that if we do rely on our cognitive faculties, it is reasonable to believe that these are not brought about by naturalistic forces, forces that are entirely driven by chance or are the outcome of processes not formed by an overriding intelligence. An illustration may help to understand the argument. Imagine coming across what appears to be a sign reporting some information about your current altitude (some rocks in a configuration giving you your current location and precise height above sea-level in meters). If you had reason to believe that this “sign” was totally the result of chance configurations, would it still be reasonable to trust it? Some theists argue that it would not be reasonable, and that trusting our cognitive faculties requires us to accept that they were formed by an overarching, good, creative agent. This rekindles Descartes' point about relying on the goodness of God to ensure that our cognitive faculties are in good working order. Objections to this argument center on naturalistic explanations, especially those friendly to evolution. In evolutionary epistemology, one tries to account for the reliability of cognitive faculties in terms of trial and error leading to survival. A rejoinder by theists is that survival alone is not necessarily linked to true beliefs. It could, in principle, be false beliefs that enhance survival. In fact, some atheists do think that believing in God has been crucial to people's survival, though the belief is radically false. Martin and Mackie, among others, object to the epistemic teleological argument; Plantinga, Richard Creel and Richard Taylor defend it.

A more sustained objection against virtually all versions of the teleological argument takes issue with the assumption that the cosmos is good or that it is the sort of thing that would be brought about by an intelligent, completely benevolent being. This leads us directly to the next central concern of the philosophy of God.

Problems of evil : If there is a God who is omnipotent, omniscient and completely good, why is there evil? The problem of evil is the most widely considered objection to theism in both western and eastern philosophy. There are two general versions of the problem: the deductive or logical version, which asserts that the existence of any evil at all (regardless of its role in producing good) is incompatible with God's existence; and the probabilistic version, which asserts that given the quantity and severity of evil that actually exists, it is unlikely that God exists. The deductive problem is currently less commonly debated because it is widely acknowledged that a thoroughly good being might allow or inflict some harm under certain morally compelling conditions (such as causing a child pain when removing a splinter). More intense debate concerns the likelihood (or even possibility) that there is a completely good God given the vast amount of evil in the cosmos. Consider human and animal suffering caused by death, predation, birth defects, ravaging diseases, virtually unchecked human wickedness, torture, rape, oppression and “natural disasters.” Consider how often those who suffer are innocent. Why should there be so much gratuitous, apparently pointless evil?

In the face of the problem of evil, some philosophers and theologians deny that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. John Stuart Mill took this line, and panentheist. theologians today also question the traditional treatments of Divine power. According to panentheism, God is immanent in the world, suffering with the oppressed and working to bring good out of evil, although in spite of God's efforts, evil will invariably mar the created order. Another response is to think of God as being very different from a moral agent. Brian Davies and others have contended that what it means for God to be good is different from what it means for an agent to be morally good (Davies, 2006). A more desperate strategy is to deny the existence of evil, but it is difficult to reconcile traditional monotheism with moral skepticism. Also, insofar as we believe there to be a God worthy of worship and a fitting object of human love, the appeal to moral skepticism will carry little weight. The idea that evil is a privation of the good, a twisting of something good, may have some currency in thinking through the problem of evil, but it is difficult to see how it alone could go very far to vindicate belief in God's goodness. Searing pain and endless suffering seem altogether real even if they are analyzed as being philosophically parasitic on something valuable. The three great monotheistic traditions, with their ample insistence on the reality of evil, offer little reason to try to defuse the problem of evil by this route. Indeed, classical Judaism, Christianity and Islam are so committed to the existence of evil that a reason to reject evil would be a reason to reject these religious traditions. What would be the point of Judaic teaching about the Exodus (God liberating the people of Israel from slavery) or Christian teaching about the incarnation (Christ revealing God as love and releasing a Divine power that will, in the end, conquer death), or the Islamic teaching of Mohammed (the holy prophet of Allah who is all-just and all-merciful) if slavery, hate, death and injustice do not exist?

In part, the magnitude one takes the problem of evil to pose for theism will depend upon one's commitments in other areas of philosophy, especially ethics, epistemology and metaphysics. If in ethics you hold that there should be no preventable suffering for any reason, no matter what the cause or consequence, then the problem of evil will conflict with accepting traditional theism. Moreover, if you hold that any solution to the problem of evil should be evident to all persons, then again traditional theism is in jeopardy, for clearly the “solution” is not evident to all. Debate has largely centered over the legitimacy of adopting some position in the middle: a theory of values that would preserve a clear assessment of the profound evil in the cosmos as well as some understanding of how this might be compatible with the existence of an all powerful, completely good Creator. Could there be reasons why God would permit cosmic ills? If we do not know what those reasons might be, are we in a position to conclude that there are none or that there could not be any? Exploring different possibilities will be shaped by one's metaphysics. For example, if you do not believe there is free will, then you will not be moved by any appeal to the positive value of free will and its role in bringing about good as offsetting its role in bringing about evil.

Theistic responses to the problem of evil distinguish between a defense and a theodicy. A defense seeks to establish that rational belief that God exists is still possible (when the defense is employed against the logical version of the problem of evil) and that the existence of evil does not make it improbable that God exists (when used against the probabilistic version). . Some have adopted the defense strategy while arguing that we are in a position to have rational beliefs in the existence of evil and in a completely good God who hates this evil, even though we may be unable to see how these two beliefs are compatible. A theodicy is more ambitious, and is typically part of a broader project, arguing that it is reasonable to believe that God exists on the basis of the good as well as the evident evil of the cosmos. In a theodicy, the project is not to account for each and every evil, but to provide an overarching framework within which to understand at least roughly how the evil that occurs is part of some overall good — for instance, the overcoming of evil is itself a great good. In practice, a defense and a theodicy often appeal to similar factors, the first and foremost being what many call the Greater Good Defense.

Evil and the Greater Good : In the Greater Good Defense, it is contended that evil can be understood as either a necessary accompaniment to bringing about greater goods or an integral part of these goods. Thus, in a version often called the Free Will Defense, it is proposed that free creatures who are able to care for each other and whose welfare depends on each other's freely chosen action constitute a good. For this good to be realized, it is argued, there must be the bona fide possibility of persons harming each other. The free will defense is sometimes used narrowly only to cover evil that occurs as a result, direct or indirect, of human action. But it has been speculatively extended by those proposing a defense rather than a theodicy to cover other evils which might be brought about by supernatural agents other than God. According to the Greater Good case, evil provides an opportunity to realize great values, such as the virtues of courage and the pursuit of justice. Reichenbach (1982), Tennant (1930), Swinburne (1979), and van Inwagen (2006) have also underscored the good of a stable world of natural laws in which animals and humans learn about the cosmos and develop autonomously, independent of the certainty that God exists. Some atheists accord value to the good of living in a world without God, and these views have been used by theists to back up the claim that God might have reason to create a cosmos in which Divine existence is not overwhelmingly obvious to us. If God's existence were overwhelmingly obvious, then motivations to virtue might be clouded by self-interest and by the bare fear of offending an omnipotent being. Further, there may even be some good to acting virtuously even if circumstances guarantee a tragic outcome. John Hick (1978) so argued and has developed what he construes to be an Irenaean approach to the problem of evil (named after St. Irenaeus of the second century). On this approach, it is deemed good that humanity develops the life of virtue gradually, evolving to a life of grace, maturity and love. This contrasts with a theodicy associated with St. Augustine, according to which God created us perfect and then allowed us to fall into perdition, only to be redeemed later by Christ. Hick thinks the Augustinian model fails whereas the Irenaean one is credible.

Some have based an argument from the problem of evil on the charge that this is not the best possible world. If there were a supreme, maximally excellent God, surely God would bring about the best possible creation. Because this is not the best possible creation, there is no supreme, maximally excellent God. Following Adams (1987), many now reply that the whole notion of a best possible world, like the highest possible number, is incoherent. For any world that can be imagined with such and such happiness, goodness, virtue and so on, a higher one can be imagined. If the notion of a best possible world is incoherent, would this count against belief that there could be a supreme, maximally excellent being? It has been argued on the contrary that Divine excellences admit of upper limits or maxima that are not quantifiable in a serial fashion (for example, Divine omnipotence involves being able to do anything logically or metaphysically possible, but does not require actually doing the greatest number of acts or a series of acts of which there can be no more).

Those concerned with the problem of evil clash over the question of how one assesses the likelihood of Divine existence. Someone who reports seeing no point to the existence of evil or no justification for God to allow it seems to imply that if there were a point they would see it. Note the difference between seeing no point and not seeing a point. In the cosmic case, is it clear that if there were a reason justifying the existence of evil, we would see it? William Rowe thinks some plausible understanding of God's justificatory reason for allowing the evil should be detectable, but that there are cases of evil that are altogether gratuitous. Defenders like William Hasker and Stephen Wykstra reply that these cases are not decisive counter-examples to the claim that there is a good God. These philosophers hold that we can recognize evil and grasp our duty to do all in our power to prevent or alleviate it. But we should not take our failure to see what reason God might have for allowing evil to count as grounds for thinking that there is no reason.

Some portraits of an afterlife seem to have little bearing on our response to the magnitude of evil here and now. Does it help to understand why God allows evil if all victims will receive happiness later? But it is difficult to treat the possibility of an afterlife as entirely irrelevant. Is death the annihilation of persons or an event involving a transfiguration to a higher state? If you do not think that it matters whether persons continue to exist after death, then such speculation is of little consequence. But suppose that the afterlife is understood as being morally intertwined with this life, with opportunity for moral and spiritual reformation, transfiguration of the wicked, rejuvenation and occasions for new life, perhaps even reconciliation and communion between oppressors seeking forgiveness and their victims. Then these considerations might help to defend against arguments based on the existence of evil. In so far as one cannot rule out the possibility of an afterlife morally tied to our life, one cannot rule out the possibility that God brings some good out of cosmic ills.

The most recent work on the afterlife in philosophy of religion has focused on the compatibility of an individual afterlife with some forms of physicalism. Arguably, a dualist treatment of human persons is more promising. If you are not metaphysically identical with your body, then perhaps the annihilation of your body is not the annihilation of you. Today, a range of philosophers have argued that even if physicalism is true, an afterlife is still possible (Peter van Inwagen, Lynne Baker, Trenton Merricks, Kevin Cocoran). The import of this work for the problem of evil is that the possible redemptive value of an afterlife should not be ruled out (without argument) if one assumes physicalism to be true.

Religious Experience : Perhaps the justification most widely offered for religious belief concerns the occurrence of religious experience or the cumulative weight of testimony of those claiming to have had religious experiences. Putting the latter case in theistic terms, the argument appeals to the fact that many people have testified that they have felt God's presence. Does such testimony provide evidence that God exists? That it is evidence has been argued by Jerome Gellman, Keith Yandell, William Alston, Caroline Davis, Gary Gutting, Richard Swinburne and others. That it is not (or that its evidential force is trivial) is argued by Michael Martin, J. L. Mackie, Kai Nielson, M. Bagger, William Rowe, and others. In an effort to stimulate further investigation, I shall briefly sketch some of the moves and countermoves in the debate.

Objection: Religious experience cannot be experience of God for experience is only sensory and if God is non-physical, God cannot be sensed.

Reply: The thesis that experience is only sensory can be challenged. Yandell marks out some experiences (as when one has “a feeling” someone is present but without having any accompanying sensations) that might provide grounds for questioning a narrow sensory notion of experience.

Objection: Testimony to have experienced God is only testimony that one thinks one has experienced God; it is only testimony of a conviction, not evidence.

Reply: The literature on religious experience testifies to the existence of experience of some Divine being on the basis of which the subject comes to think the experience is of God. If read charitably, the testimony is not testimony to a conviction, but to experiences that form the grounds for the conviction. (See Matthew Bagger Religious Experience, Justification, and History ) for a vigorous articulation of this objection, and note the reply by Kai-man Kwam (2003).

Objection: Because religious experience is unique, how could one ever determine whether it is reliable? We simply lack the ability to examine the object of religious experience in order to test whether the reported experiences are indeed reliable.

Reply: As we learned from Descartes, all our experiences of external objects face a problem of uniqueness. It is possible in principle that all our senses are mistaken and we do not have the public, embodied life we think we lead. We cannot step out of our own subjectivity to vindicate our ordinary perceptual beliefs any more than in the religious case. (See the debate between William Alston and Evan Fales, 2004).

Objection: Reports of religious experience differ radically and the testimony of one religious party neutralizes the testimony of others. The testimony of Hindus cancel out the testimony of Christians. The testimony of atheists to experience God's absence cancels out the testimony of “believers”.

Reply: Several replies might be offered here. Testimony to experience the absence of God might be better understood as testimony not to experience God. Failing to experience God might be justification for believing that there is no God only to the extent that we have reason to believe that if God exists God would be experienced by all. Theists might even appeal to the claim by many atheists that it can be virtuous to live ethically with atheist beliefs. Perhaps if there is a God, God does not think this is altogether bad, and actually desires religious belief to be fashioned under conditions of trust and faith rather than knowledge. The diversity of religious experiences has caused some defenders of the argument from religious experience to mute their conclusion. Thus, Gutting (1982) contends that the argument is not strong enough fully to vindicate a specific religious tradition, but that it is strong enough to overturn an anti-religious naturalism. Other defenders use their specific tradition to deal with ostensibly competing claims based on different sorts of religious experiences. Theists have proposed that more impersonal experiences of the Divine represent only one aspect of God. God is a person or is person-like, but God can also be experienced, for example, as sheer luminous unity. Hindus have claimed the experience of God as personal is only one stage in the overall journey of the soul to truth, the highest truth being that Brahman transcends personhood. (For a discussion of these objections and replies and references, see Taliaferro, 1998).

How one settles the argument will depend on one's overall convictions in many areas of philosophy. The holistic, interwoven nature of both theistic and atheistic arguments can be readily illustrated. If you diminish the implications of religious experience and have a high standard regarding the burden of proof for any sort of religious outlook, then it is highly likely that the classical arguments for God's existence will not be persuasive. Moreover, if one thinks that theism can be shown to be intellectually confused from the start, then theistic arguments from religious experience will carry little weight. Testimony to have experienced God will have no more weight than testimony to have experienced a round square, and non-religious explanations of religious experience—like those of Freud (a result of wish-fulfillment), Marx (a reflection of the economic base) or Durkheim (a product of social forces)—will increase their appeal. If, on the other hand, you think the theistic picture is coherent and that the testimony of religious experience provides some evidence for theism, then your assessment of the classical theistic arguments might be more favorable, for they would serve to corroborate and further support what you already have some reason to believe. From such a vantage point, appeal to wish- fulfillment, economics, and social forces might have a role, but the role is to explain why some parties do not have experiences of God and to counter the charge that failure to have such experiences provides evidence that there is no religious reality.

There is not space to cover the many other arguments for and against the existence of God, but several additional arguments are briefly noted. The argument from miracles starts from specific extraordinary events, arguing that they provide reasons for believing there to be a supernatural agent or, more modestly, reasons for skepticism about the sufficiency of a naturalistic world view. The argument has attracted much philosophical attention, especially since David Hume's rejection of miracles. The debate has turned mainly on how one defines a miracle, understands the laws of nature, and specifies the principles of evidence that govern the explanation of highly unusual historical occurrences. There is considerable debate over whether Hume's case against miracles simply begs the question against “believers.” Detailed exposition is impossible in this short entry, but I argue elsewhere that Hume's case against miracles is most charitably seen as part of his overall case for naturalism (Taliaferro, 2005).

There are various arguments that are advanced to motivate religious belief. One of the most interesting and popular is a wager argument often associated with Pascal (1623–62). It is designed to offer practical reasons to cultivate a belief in God. Imagine that you are unsure whether there is or is not a God. You have it within your power to live on either assumption and perhaps, through various practices, to get yourself to believe one or the other. There would be good consequences of believing in God even if your belief were false, and if the belief were true you would receive even greater good. There would also be good consequences of believing that there is no God, but in this case the consequences would not alter if there were no God. If, however, you believe that there is no God and you are wrong, then you would risk losing the many goods which follow from belief that God exists and actual Divine existence. On this basis, it may seem reasonable to believe there is a God.

In different forms the argument may be given a rough edge (for example, imagine that if you do not believe in God and there is a God, hell is waiting). It may be put as an appeal to individual self-interest (you will be better off) or more generally (believers whose lives are bound together can realize some of the goods comprising a mature religious life). Objectors worry about whether one ever is able to bring choices down to just such a narrow selection — for example, to choose either theism or naturalism. Some think the argument is too thoroughly egotistic and thus offensive to religion. Many of these objections have generated some plausible replies (Rescher, 1985). For a thoroughgoing exploration of the relevant arguments, see the collection of essays Jordan, (1994).

Recent work on Pascalian wagering has a bearing on work on the nature of faith (is it voluntary or involuntary?), its value (when, if ever, is it a virtue?), and relation to evidence (insofar as faith involves belief, is it possible to have faith without evidence?). For an excellent overview and promising analysis, see Chappell (1996), Swinburne (1979), and Schellenberg (2005). A promising feature of such new work is that it is often accompanied by a rich understanding of revelation that is not limited to a sacred scripture, but sees a revelatory role in scripture plus the history of its interpretation, the use of creeds, icons, and so on (see the work of William Abraham). 5. Religious Pluralism

In the midst of the new work on religious traditions, there has been a steady, growing representation of non-monotheistic traditions. An early proponent of this expanded format was Ninian Smart, who, through many publications, scholarly as well as popular, secured philosophies of Hinduism and Buddhism as components in the standard canon of English-speaking philosophy of religion.

Smart championed the thesis that there are genuine differences between religious traditions. He therefore resisted seeing some core experience as capturing the essential identity of being religious. Under Smart's tutelage, there has been a considerable growth in cross-cultural philosophy of religion. Wilfred Cantwell Smith also did a great deal to improve the representation of non-Western religions and reflection.

The explanation of philosophy of religion has involved fresh translations of philosophical and religious texts from India, China, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Exceptional figures from non-Western traditions have an increased role in cross-cultural philosophy of religion and religious dialogue. The late Bimal Krishna Matilal made salient contributions to enrich Western exposure to Indian philosophy of religion. Among the mid-twentieth-century Asian philosophers, two, who stand out for special note, are T.R.V. Murty (see his Central Philosophy of Buddhism ) and S.N. Das Gupta (see his five-volume History of Indian Philosophy ). Both brought high philosophical standards along with the essential philology to educate Western thinkers. As evidence of non-Western productivity in the Anglophone world, see Arvind Sharma's A Hindu Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion and Philosophy of Religion and Advaita Vedanta . There are now extensive treatments of pantheism and student-friendly guides to diverse religious conceptions of the cosmos.

The expanded interest in religious pluralism has led to extensive reflection on the compatibilities and possible synthesis of religions. John Hick is the preeminent synthesizer of religious traditions. In an important book, Death and Eternal Life (1974), Hick advanced a complex picture of the afterlife involving components from diverse traditions. Over many publications and many years, Hick has moved from a broadly based theistic view of God to what Hick calls “the Real,” a noumenal sacred reality. Hick claims that different religions provide us with a glimpse or partial access to the Real. In an influential article, “The New Map of the Universe of Faiths,” Hick raised the possibility that many of the great world religions are revelatory of the Real.

Seen in [a] historical context these movements of faith — the Judaic-Christian, the Buddhist, the Hindu, the Muslim — are not essentially rivals. They began at different times and in different places, and each expanded outwards into the surrounding world of primitive natural religion until most of the world was drawn up into one or the other of the great revealed faiths. And once this global pattern had become established it has ever since remained fairly stable. It is true that the process of establishment involved claiming their obedience and demanding a new level of righteousness and justice in life of Israel. Then in Persia the great prophet Zoroaster appeared; China produced Lao-tzu and then the Buddha lived, the Mahavira, the founder of the Jain religion and, probably about the end of this period, the writing of the Bhagavad Gita; and Greece produced Pythagoras and then, ending this golden age, Socrates and Plato. Then after the gap of some three hundred years came Jesus of Nazareth and the emergence of Christianity; and after another gap the prophet Mohammed and rise of Islam. The suggestion that we must consider is that these were all movements of the divine revelation. (Hick 1989, 136)

Hick sees these traditions, and others as well, as different meeting points in which a person might be in relation to the same reality or the Real. “The great world faiths embody different perceptions and conceptions of, and correspondingly different responses to, the Real from within the major variant ways of being human; and that within each of them the transformation of human existence from self-centeredness to Reality-centeredness is taking place” (Ibid, 240). Hick uses Kant to develop his central thesis.

Kant distinguishes between noumenon and phenomenon, or between a Ding an sich [the thing itself] and the thing as it appears to human consciousness…. In this strand of Kant's thought — not the only strand, but the one which I am seeking to press into service in the epistemology of religion — the noumenal world exists independently of our perception of it and the phenomenal world is that same world as it appears to our human consciousness…. I want to say that the noumenal Real is experienced and thought by different human mentalities, forming and formed by different religious traditions, as the range of gods and absolutes which the phenomenology of religion reports. (Ibid, 241-242)

One advantage of Hick's position is that it undermines a rationale for religious conflict. If successful, this approach would offer a way to accommodate diverse communities and undermine what has been a source of grave conflict in the past.

Hick's work since the early 1980's provided an impetus for not taking what appears to be religious conflict as outright contradictions. He advanced a philosophy of religion that paid careful attention to the historical and social context. By doing so, Hick thought the apparent conflict between seeing the Real as the personal or the impersonal reality could be reconciled.

The response to Hick's proposal has been mixed. Some contend that the very concept of “the Real” is incoherent (Plantinga) or not religiously adequate. Indeed, articulating the nature of the real is no easy task. Hick writes that the Real “cannot be said to be one thing or many, person or thing, substance or process, good or bad, purposive or non-purposive. None of the concrete descriptions that apply within the realm of human experience can apply literally to the unexperienceable ground of that realm…. We cannot even speak of this as a thing or an entity” (Ibid 246). It has been argued that Hick has secured not the equal acceptability of diverse religions but rather their unacceptability. In their classical forms, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity diverge. If, say, the Incarnation of God in Christ did not occur, isn't Christianity false? In reply, Hick has sought to interpret specific claims about the Incarnation in ways that do not commit Christians to the “literal truth” of God becoming enfleshed. The “truth” of the Incarnation has been interpreted in such terms as these: in Jesus Christ (or in the narratives about Christ) God is disclosed. Or: Jesus Christ was so united with God's will that his actions were and are the functional display of God's character. Perhaps as a result of Hick's challenge, philosophical work on the incarnation and other beliefs and practice specific to religious traditions have received renewed attention. Hick has been a leading, widely appreciated force in the expansion of philosophy of religion in the late twentieth century.

In addition to the expansion of philosophy of religion to take into account a wider set of religions, the field has also seen an expansion in terms of methodology. Philosophers of religion have re-discovered medieval philosophy—the new translations and commentaries of medieval Christian, Jewish, and Islamic texts have blossomed. There is now a self-conscious, deliberate effort to combine work on the concepts in religious belief alongside a critical understanding of their social and political roots (the work of Foucault has been influential on this point), feminist philosophy of religion has been especially important in re-thinking what may be called the ethics of methodology and, as this is in some respects the most current debate in the field, it is a fitting point to end this entry by highlighting work by Pamela Sue Anderson and others.

In A Feminist Philosophy of Religion Anderson seeks to question respects in which gender enters into traditional conceptions of God and in their moral and political repercussions. She also advances a concept of method which delimits justice and human flourishing. A mark of legitimation of philosophy should be the extent to which it contributes to human welfare. In a sense, this is a venerable thesis in some ancient, specifically Platonic philosophy which envisaged the goal and method of philosophy in terms of virtue and the good. Feminist philosophy today is not exclusively a critical undertaking, critiquing “patriarchy.” For a constructive, subtle treatment of religious contemplation and practice, see Sarah Coakley's Powers and Submissions: Spirituality, Philosophy and Gender. Another key movement that is developing has come to be called Continental Philosophy of Religion. A major advocate of this new turn is John Caputo. This movement approaches the themes of this entry (the concept of God, pluralism, religious experience, metaphysics and epistemology) in light of Heidegger, Derrida and other continental philosophers. For a good representation of this movement, see John Caputo's edited collection The Religious: Blackwell Readings in Continental Philosophy.

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Howard-Snyder, D. and Moser, P. (eds.), 2001, Divine Hiddenness , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hughes, C., 1989, On a Complex Theory of a Simple God , Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
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Acknowledgments

I am indebted to John Deck for comments and assistance in preparing this entry. [Editors Note, March 2018: Portions of this entry appeared previously in C. Taliaferro, “Philosophy of Religion”, in N. Bunnin and E.P. Tsui-James (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy , 2nd edition, Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.]

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The Best 50 Religion Research Topics to Use for Students

In our multi-religious and multicultural society, crafting a great research paper on religion is a challenging task. Indeed, this challenge starts from the first stage of preparing your paper: identifying a good religious research paper topic. Further, it is almost impossible to write a paper without offending one or more religious feelings, especially when working on the history of religion. To make writing your paper easy, you must start by picking good religious paper topics.

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A closer look at world religions without gods.
The concept of religion and soul.
The impact of religious laws on morality.
The phenomenon of trickster gods.
The impact of Greek religion on European culture.
Impact of religion on American culture.
Impact of religion on Chinese culture.
Comparing the similarities of images of gods in different religions.
How does gender affect religion?
Islam in modern India.
What is the future of religion?
Afterlife: What are the differences in diverse religions?
What are the main causes of the faith crisis?
Analyzing the influence of female clergy on religion.
Relooking at the reincarnation concept.
What role do men have in religion?
The impacts of yoga on religion.
Can faith remove the harshness of adolescence?
Why is Ramadhan referred to as the holy month?
Comparing religious counselors to classical psychologists.
A closer look at the main differences between the bible and Koran.
What is the importance of Christmas for Christians?
Creationism.
Religion and science.
How do people implement different religious practices today?
Should atheism be considered another form of religion?
Judaism: A closer look at its history.
Analyzing attitudes towards sex in the Christian religion.
Children: Are they considered innocent in all religions?
A closer look at the history of Hinduism.
A closer look at the existence of God as a supernatural being.
Comparing and contrasting monotheistic cultures.
Female goddesses.
Chaplain-ship: How does it trigger peace and harmony?
Impact of women in the history of Christianity.
What are the implications of forced religion on people?
Religion and terrorism.
Religion in the workplace.
Religion and evolution.
Nordic mythology.
A world without religion: Is it possible?
Applying religion to address global problems.
The primal religions.
Do you think religion should play a role in modern politics?
Do you think religion influences societal virtues?

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Philosophy Dissertations and Theses

The Department of Philosophy Dissertations and Theses Series is comprised of dissertations and theses authored by Marquette University's Department of Philosophy doctoral and master's students.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Place, Attachment, and Feeling: Indigenous Dispossession and Settler Belonging , Sarah Kizuk

Nepantla and Mestizaje: A Phenomenological Analysis of the Mestizx Historical Consciousness , Jorge Alfredo Montiel

The Categories Argument for the Real Distinction Between Being and Essence: Avicenna, Aquinas, and Their Greek Sources , Nathaniel Taylor

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Modeling, Describing, and Explaining Subjective Consciousness- A Guide to (and for) the Perplexed , Peter Burgess

Looking Through Whiteness: Objectivity, Racism, Method, and Responsibility , Philip Mack

Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Maritain on the Student-Teacher Relationship in Catholic Higher Education , Timothy Rothhaar

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Empathetic Autistic: A Phenomenological Look at the Feminine Experience , Dana Fritz

Concerning Aristotelian Animal Essences , Damon Andrew Watson

When to Trust Authoritative Testimony: Generation and Transmission of Knowledge in Saadya Gaon, Al-Ghazālī and Thomas Aquinas , Brett A. Yardley

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

The Status of Irrationality: Karl Jaspers' Response to Davidson and Searle , Daniel Adsett

Cosmic City - Cosmic Teleology: A Reading of Metaphysics Λ 10 and Politics I 2 , Brandon Henrigillis

Phenomenal Consciousness: An Husserlian Approach , John Jered Janes

Al-Fārābī Metaphysics, and the Construction of Social Knowledge: Is Deception Warranted if it Leads to Happiness? , Nicholas Andrew Oschman

The Epistemology of Disagreement: Hume, Kant, and the Current Debate , Robert Kyle Whitaker

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

'Our Feet are Mired In the Same Soil': Deepening Democracy with the Political Virtue of Sympathetic Inquiry , Jennifer Lynn Kiefer Fenton

Towards a Philosophy of the Musical Experience: Phenomenology, Culture, and Ethnomusicology in Conversation , J. Tyler Friedman

Humor, Power and Culture: A New Theory on the Experience and Ethics of Humor , Jennifer Marra

Care of the Sexual Self: Askesis As a Route to Sex Education , Shaun Douglas Miller

Re-Evaluating Augustinian Fatalism through the Eastern and Western Distinction between God's Essence and Energies , Stephen John Plecnik

The Fantastic Structure of Freedom: Sartre, Freud, and Lacan , Gregory A. Trotter

The Province of Conceptual Reason: Hegel's Post-Kantian Rationalism , William Clark Wolf

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Hume on Thick and Thin Causation , Alexander Bozzo

Evolution, Naturalism, and Theism: An Inconsistent Triad? , David H. Gordon

The Parable As Mirror: An Examination of the Use of Parables in the Works of Kierkegaard , Russell Hamer

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Contextualizing Aquinas's Ontology of Soul: An Analysis of His Arabic and Neoplatonic Sources , Nathan McLain Blackerby

The Social and Historical Subject in Sartre and Foucault and Its Implications for Healthcare Ethics , Kimberly Siobhan Engels

Investigations of Worth: Towards a Phenomenology of Values , Dale Hobbs Jr.

Developing Capabilities: A Feminist Discourse Ethics Approach , Chad Kleist

Hegel and the Problem of the Multiplicity of Conflicting Philosophies , Matthew M. Peters

Aquinas, Averroes, and the Human Will , Traci Ann Phillipson

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Nature, Feminism, and Flourishing: Human Nature and the Feminist Ethics of Flourishing , Celeste D. Harvey

Kierkegaard in Light of the East: A Critical Comparison of the Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard with Orthodox Christian Philosophy and Thought , Agust Magnusson

The Secular Transformation of Pride and Humility in the Moral Philosophy of David Hume , Kirstin April Carlson McPherson

Living within the Sacred Tension: Paradox and Its Significance for Christian Existence in the Thought of Søren Kierkegaard , Matthew Thomas Nowachek

Moral Imagination and Adorno: Before and After Auschwitz , Catlyn Origitano

Essence and Necessity, and the Aristotelian Modal Syllogistic: A Historical and Analytical Study , Daniel James Vecchio

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Subversive Humor , Chris A. Kramer

Virtue, Oppression, and Resistance Struggles , Trevor William Smith

Health As Embodied Authenticity , Margaret Steele

Recognition and Political Ontology: Fichte, Hegel, and Honneth , Velimir Stojkovski

The Conceptual Priority of the Perfect , Matthew Peter Zdon

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Dangerous Knowledge? Morality And Moral Progress After Naturalism , Daniel Diederich Farmer

Nietzsche's Revaluation of All Values , Joseph Anthony Kranak

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Re-Enchanting The World: An Examination Of Ethics, Religion, And Their Relationship In The Work Of Charles Taylor , David McPherson

Thomas Aquinas on the Apprehension of Being: The Role of Judgement in Light of Thirteenth-Century Semantics , Rosa Vargas Della Casa

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Naturalized Panpsychism: An Alternative to Fundamentalist Physicalism and Supernaturalism , Earl R. Cookson

The Concept of Personhood in the Phenomenology of Edmund Husserl , Colin J. Hahn

The Humanistic, Fideistic Philosophy of Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) , Charles William Peterson

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Knowledge and Thought in Heidegger and Foucault: Towards an Epistemology of Ruptures , Arun Anantheeswaran Iyer

William James's Undivided Self and the Possibility of Immortality , Anthony Karlin

The Poetics of Remembrance: Communal Memory and Identity in Heidegger and Ricoeur , David Leichter

The Ontological Foundations for Natural Law Theory and Contemporary Ethical Naturalism , Bernard Mauser

Sexualized Violence, Moral Disintegration and Ethical Advocacy , Melissa Mosko

Spinoza on Individuals and Individuation: Metaphysics, Morals, and Politics , Matthew David Wion

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Paradox of Nature: Merleau-Ponty's Semi-Naturalistic Critique of Husserlian Phenomenology , Shazad Akhtar

Hume's Conception of Time and its Implications for his Theories of Causation and Induction , Daniel Esposito

Arabic Influences in Aquinas's Doctrine of Intelligible Species , Max Herrera

The Attestation of the Self as a Bridge Between Hermeneutics and Ontology in the Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur , Sebastian Kaufmann

Love's Lack: The Relationship between Poverty and Eros in Plato's Symposium , Lorelle D. Lamascus

Friendship and Fidelity: An Historical and Critical Examination , Joshua Walter Schulz

Natural Law Theory and the "Is"--"Ought" Problem: A Critique of Four Solutions , Shalina Stilley

Attending to Presence: A Study of John Duns Scotus' Account of Sense Cognition , Amy F. Whitworth

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Friendship and Self-Identity in the Thought of Paul Ricoeur , Cristina Bucur

The Finality of Religion in Aquinas' Theory of Human Acts , Francisco José Romero Carrasquillo

The finality of religion in Aquinas' theory of human acts , Francisco J Romero

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Self-Identity in Comparative Theology: The Functional lmportance of Charles Taylor's Concept of the Self for a Theology of Religions , Richard Joseph Hanson

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

Husserl's Noema: A Critical Assessment of the Gestalt and Analytic Interpretations , Peter M. Chukwu

A Social Contract Analysis of Rawls and Rousseau: Supplanting the Original Position As Philosophically Most Favored , Paul Neiman

To Validate a Feeling: the Role of the Mood of Angst in Human Being , Gregory P. Schulz

The Conception and Attributes of God: A Comparison of Charles Sanders Peirce and Alfred North Whitehead , Scott W. Sinclair

John Rawls, Public Reason, and Natural Law: A Study of the Principles of Public Justification , Christopher Ward

Submissions from 2006 2006

Hans Jonas's ethic of responsibility applied to anti-aging technologies and the indefinite extension of the human life span , Jeffrey P Goins

David Hume and the Principle of Sufficient Reason , Ginger Lee

Virtue Theory in Plato's Republic , Griffin T. Nelson

The Principle of Alternate Possibilities: Finding Freedom after Frankfurt , Matthew F. Pierlott

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

Is There a Future for Marxist Humanism? , Jacob M. Held

Self-Love and Morality: Beyond Egoism and Altruism , Li Jing

Eikos Logos and Eikos Muthos: A Study of the Nature of the Likely Story in Plato's Timaeus , Ryan Kenneth McBride

Hume's Conclusions on the Existence and Nature of God , Timothy S. Yoder

Submissions from 2004 2004

The foundations of the politics of difference , Peter Nathaniel Bwanali

The Foundations of the Politics of Difference , Peter Nathaniel Bwanali

The Place of Justice in the Thinking of Emmanuel Levinas , Michael H. Gillick

New Waves in Metaethics: Naturalist Realism, Naturalist Antirealism and Divine Commands , Daniel R. Kern

Reason in Hume's Moral System , John Muenzberg

Conceiving Mind: A Critique of Descartes' Dualism and Contemporary Immaterialist Views of Consciousness , Kristin P. Schaupp

Respecting Plurality in Times of Change: Hannah Arendt's Conceptions of Political, Personal, and Ethical Responsibility , Stephen Schulman

Francis Suárez on the Ontological Status of Individual Unity vis-à-vis the Aristotelian Doctrine of Primary Substance , John W. Simmons

Through a Glass Darkly: Bernard Lonergan and Richard Rorty on the Possibility of Knowing Without a God's-Eye-View , Russell Snell

Theses/Dissertations from 2003 2003

Building a Heideggerian Ethic , Kelly A. Burns

St. Thomas Aquinas and the Self-Evident Proposition: A Study of the Manifold Senses of a Medieval Concept , Michael V. Dougherty

Ricoeur's Narrative Development of Gadamer's Hermeneutics: Continuity and Discontinuity , Keith D'Souza

Beauty's Resting Place: Unity in St. Augustine's Sensible Aesthetic , Matthew J. Hayes

Empathy and Knowledge: Husserl's Introductions to Phenomenology , Kevin Hermberg

The Transactional Model: A Critical Examination of John Dewey's Philosophy of Freedom , Mark N. Lenker III

Reflection on the "good" As a Source of Freedom in Virtue Theory , John D. Morse

Theses/Dissertations from 2002 2002

An Evaluation of Alvin Plantinga's Religious Epistemology Does It Function Properly? , James Beilby

Merleau-Ponty: Embodied Subjectivity and the Foundation of Ethics , Sarah A. Fischer

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Philosophy theses and dissertations.

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This collection contains some of the theses and dissertations produced by students in the University of Oregon Philosophy Graduate Program. Paper copies of these and other dissertations and theses are available through the UO Libraries .

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The Problem of Freedom and Universality: Marxian Philosophical Anthropology Ralda, Oscar ( University of Oregon , 2024-03-25 ) This dissertation has two principal aims. First, it provides a critical reconsideration of Marx’s philosophical anthropology as it bears on the essential continuity of his emancipatory critique of political economy. Second, ...
Living Legality: Law and Dussel's Philosophy of Liberation Ospina Martinez, Juan Sebastián ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-10 ) In this dissertation I examine the theoretical underpinnings necessary for a philosophy of liberationaccount of law and suggest an alternative conceptualization of the function of law and political institutions, following ...
Making Sense of the Practical Lesbian Past: Towards a Rethinking of Untimely Uses of History through the Temporality of Cultural Techniques Simon, Valérie ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-10 ) This dissertation focuses on the practice of untimely uses of lesbian history, and in particular the diverse practices of engagement with lesbian activist history, all of which aim to mobilize this activist history for the ...
An Argument for a Cartographic Approach to Technology McLevey, Mare ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-09 ) This dissertation develops a way to study technology and politics that is an alternative to dominant approaches particular to contemporary philosophy of technology’s empirical and ethical turns. Dominant models fix ...
Nietzsche, Reification, and Open Comportment Currie, Luke ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-09 ) This work primarily discusses the “fallacy of reification” from the perspective of Nietzsche’s late philosophy (particularly in the chapter on ‘Reason’ in philosophy in his Twilight of the Idols). While reification is ...
Time, Capitalism, and Political Ecology: Toward and Ecosocialist Metabolic Temporality Gamble, Cameron ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-26 ) The ecological crises that have already marked the 21st century, and which will continue to do so on an increasingly intense and destructive scale, present theory in every discipline and field of study with a number of ...
Demystifying Racial Monopoly Haller, Reese ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) Through analysis of private, public, and state reactions to the Great Depression and northward black migration, this thesis demystifies four key functions of race constitutive of capitalist racial monopoly: historical ...
Pragmatism, Genealogy, and Moral Status Showler, Paul ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) This dissertation draws from recent work in pragmatism and philosophical genealogy to develop and defend a new approach for thinking about the concept of moral status. My project has two main aims. First, I argue that Huw ...
Ethics for the Depressed: A Value Ethics of Engagement Fitzpatrick, Devin ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) I argue that depressed persons suffer from “existential guilt,” which amounts to a two-part compulsion: 1) the compulsive assertion or sense of a vague and all-encompassing or absolute threat that disrupts action and ...
Soul and Polis: On Arete in Plato's Meno Smith III, Ansel ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) In “Soul and Polis: On Arete in Plato’s Meno,” I interpret Meno as a dialogue in which the pursuit of individual arete appears intertwined with political arete. While the differentiation of these two arete is itself ...
Place-in-Being: A Decolonial Phenomenology of Place in Conversation with Philosophies of the Americas Newton, Margaret ( University of Oregon , 2022-05-10 ) Our experiences of place and emplacement are so fundamental to our everyday existence that most of us rarely dedicate much time to thinking about how place and emplacement impact the various aspects of our daily lives. In ...
Species Trouble: From Settled Species Discourse to Ethical Species Pluralism Sinclair, Rebekah ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) In this dissertation, I develop and defend the importance of species pluralism (the recognition and use of multiple species definitions) for both environmental and humanist ethics. I begin from the concern that, since the ...
The Hybris of Plants: Reinterpreting Philosophy through Vegetal Life Kerr, Joshua ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) This dissertation reexamines the place of plants in the history of Western philosophy, drawing on the diverse philosophical approaches of Plato, Aristotle, Goethe, Hegel, and Nietzsche, among others. I suggest that a close ...
Decolonizing Silences: Toward a Critical Phenomenology of Deep Silences with Gloria E. Anzaldúa and Maurice Merleau-Ponty Ferrari, Martina ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) Motivating this dissertation is a concern for how Western philosophical, cultural, and political practices tend to privilege speech and voice as emancipatory tools and reduce silence to silencing. To locate power in silence ...
Mere Appearance: Redressing the History of Philosophy Zimmer, Amie ( University of Oregon , 2021-09-13 ) The principal aim of this dissertation is to seriously consider what accounts of fashion and dress can offer—have indeed already offered—to philosophy. In recounting these histories, I have two primary goals. The first is ...
Universal History as Global Critique: From German Critical Theory to the Anti-Colonial Tradition Portella , Elizabeth ( University of Oregon , 2021-09-13 ) This dissertation argues for a critical reconstruction of the concept of universal history. In doing so, it draws on theoretical resources offered by a materialist philosophy of history, as it is expressed in both German ...
Synoptic Fusion and Dialectical Dissociation: The Entwinement of Linguistic and Experiential Pragmatisms à la Wilfrid Sellars Naeb, Cheyenne ( University of Oregon , 2021-09-13 ) This work will attempt to examine the relationship between experiential and linguistic pragmatism through the lens of the twentieth-century Analytic philosopher, Wilfrid Sellars. I maintain that Sellars meta-linguistic ...
Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Questionability of Truth Emery, James ( University of Oregon , 2020-12-08 ) Does Nietzsche’s inquiry into the question of truth take him beyond the sense of truth as correctness found in Platonism toward a more Greek understanding of truth that brings concealment into an unsettling prominence ...
Feminism, Secularism, and the (Im)Possibilities of an Islamic Feminism Akbar Akhgari, Paria ( University of Oregon , 2020-02-27 ) This project considers attempts by scholars from within as well as outside Muslim countries to analyze gender and sex equality with a new approach that brings Islam and feminism into one discourse, often called “Islamic ...
To Write the Body: Lost Time and the Work of Melancholy Hayes, Shannon ( University of Oregon , 2019-09-18 ) In this dissertation I develop a philosophical account of melancholy as a productive, creative, and politically significant affect. Despite the longstanding association of melancholy with the creativity and productivity ...

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic '220315 Philosophy of Religion'

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Kanaris, Jim. "Bernard Lonergan's philosophy of religion." Thesis, McGill University, 2000. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=36772.

Levene, David Samuel. "Religion in Livy." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1989. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.305051.

Chetelat, James Pierre. "Hegel's concept of religion." Thesis, McGill University, 2008. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=18726.

Merklinger, Philip M. "Philosophy, theology, and Hegel's Berlin philosophy of religion, 1821-1827." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/7593.

Pulleyn, Simon Paul. "Prayer in Greek religion." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.239396.

Walker, William. "Creation in Santal tribal religion and Christian faith : a study in comparative religion." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 1994. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.241493.

Handley-Schachler, Iain-Morrison. "Achaemenid religion, 521-465 B.C." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1992. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.357523.

Robert, Dominique 1950. "Humane bioethics : medicine, philosophy, religion and law." Thesis, McGill University, 2001. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=31531.

Crowder, C. G. "Belief, unbelief and Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion." Thesis, Swansea University, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.636328.

Wodzinski, Phillip David. "Kant's Doctrine of Religion as Political Philosophy." Thesis, Boston College, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/987.

Stahlberg, Benjamin B. "Spinoza's philosophy of divine order." Related electronic resource: Current Research at SU : database of SU dissertations, recent titles available full text, 2009. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/syr/main.

Wellington, R. A. "The Problem of Doctrinal Decidability| Methods for Evaluating Purorted Divine Revelations." Thesis, Oklahoma State University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10272232.

Bediako, Gillian Mary. "The relationship between primal religion and biblical religion in the works of William Robertson Smith." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1995. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk/R?func=search-advanced-go&find_code1=WSN&request1=AAIU602310.

Partridge, Christopher Hugh. "Revelation, religion, and Christian uniqueness : an appreciative critique of H.H. Farmer's theological interpretation of religion." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 1995. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk/R?func=search-advanced-go&find_code1=WSN&request1=AAIU076884.

Rochard, Michelle A. "Kant's philosophy of religion : the relationship between Ecclesiastical faith and reasoned religion." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape15/PQDD_0005/MQ39436.pdf.

Hurl, Ronald H. "The philosophy of the new evangelization and Etienne Gilson's notion of Christian philosophy." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2004.

Corrigan, Daniel Patrick. "Wittgenstein and Religion." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2006. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/philosophy_theses/13.

Stewart, William. "Kierkegaard & Natural Religion." TopSCHOLAR®, 1988. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2882.

Hurl, Ronald H. "The philosophy of the new evangelization and Etienne Gilson's notion of Christian philosophy." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN) Access this title online, 2003. http://www.tren.com.

Oakes, Kenneth Ray. "The positive protest Karl Barth on theology and philosophy /." Thesis, Available from the University of Aberdeen Library and Historic Collections Digital Resources, 2008. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?application=DIGITOOL-3&owner=resourcediscovery&custom_att_2=simple_viewer&pid=24845.

Friedman, Randy L. "The reconstruction of religion in classical American philosophy /." View online version; access limited to Brown University users, 2005. http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/3174603.

Ozdemir, Halise. "An Attempt To Understand Humes Philosophy Of Religion." Master's thesis, METU, 2006. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12607086/index.pdf.

Adams, John David. "D.Z. Phillips and the Wittgensteinian philosophy of religion." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.501728.

Breen, John Lawrence. "Emperor, state and religion in Restoration Japan." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1993. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.260629.

McNab, Christopher. "Alterity, religion, and the metaphysics of postmodernism." Thesis, Aberystwyth University, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/2160/1de393b6-89b1-46ad-91ba-8d5e8ab34276.

Powell, Michael R. "A course in modern Christian philosophy." Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), 1996. http://www.tren.com.

Williams, John Anthony. "Church, religion and secularization in the theology of Christian radicalism, 1960-69 : critical perspectives from the sociology of religion." Thesis, Durham University, 1986. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6775/.

Rocker, Stephen. "Hegel's rational religion: The validity of Hegel's argument for the identity in content of absolute religion and absolute philosophy." Thesis, University of Ottawa (Canada), 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/6001.

Myers, Terry Walker. "Religion and morality in the philosophy of David Hume." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1996. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/MQ30922.pdf.

Burley, Stephen. "Hazlitt the Dissenter : Religion, Philosophy, and Politics, 1766-1816." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.535536.

Saade, Elie A. "The call to believe and the weak God in William James's philosophy of religion." Thesis, Villanova University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10237760.

The following dissertation argues that James’s will to believe is a call to believe that has at its origin a divine being. The will is not absolute but shaped by the call; however, the caller can also has at its origin the human being who calls God through prayers. On the other side, there is a divine being calling and hearing the calls; this divine being is a weak God, or as James states a finite God; however, I argue that the weakness of God is practical and not ontological. God in himself is omnipotent, thus, his weakness is from a human’s understanding, God does not lack power in himself but he lacks power over us; out of respect to our freedom.

The first chapter discusses the caller and the called, the call is not always a religious call but it can be a human call, it is the human calling another human to live in an ethical community, moreover, the call can be originated from the self toward itself as in the form of a Heideggerian call. However, the call must be answered because it is a genuine option. The second chapter defines religion according to James as an experience related to feelings and differentiates between the first and second hand religion and between the religion of healthy-mindedness and sick souls. The third chapter studies the practical fruits of religion and the four marks of mystical experience. The fourth chapter examines the human answer to the divine call and defines the call to believe as a call to change the world and not a mere call to believe in a set of dogmas. The call to believe is a call to assume responsibilities as individuals and to live a moral and religious life.

Im, Seungpil. "A study of Kant's "Dreams of a Spirit-Seer" Kant's ambiguous relation to Swedenborg /." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2008. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3315913.

Sellers, M. N. S. "The importance of the sun in early Roman religion." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.371738.

Wait, G. A. "Ritual and religion in the Iron Age of Britain." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1985. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.371761.

Ireland, V. E. J. D. C. "Religion and education : a study of a Pentecostal practice." Thesis, University of Manchester, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.233404.

Linn, William Michael II. "Western myths of knowledge| Particles of stone and waves of elixir." Thesis, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3702860.

Classical, scientific, and Abrahamic origin stories of knowledge establish grounds. Upon excavating these grounds, this dissertation has found repeated and entangled emphases on isolation related to a materially grounded cosmology. The core evidence for this position comes from their comparable displays of the psyche/mind/soul/spirit’s entry into and/or imprisonment within body, the symbolic restraint of Classical and Abrahamic progenitors with stone, and the initiation of philosophy—according to Aristotle—with a theory of materialism. Symbolic interpretations of the religious myths are supported by commentary from within the respective traditions.

Following a consideration of the existential implications of a material ground and (fundamentally) isolated self-image, the work considers mythic liberations of progenitors from stone and Einstein’s liberation of scientific traditions from material reductionism. As Einstein’s labors included an integration of wave dynamics into the way matter is seen, Herakles’ and Christ’s liberations of Prometheus and Adam are actuated by symbolic fluids. Later, their transcendence and atonement(s) are actuated by fluid. As is shown, Classical, Christian, and scientific knowledge narratives all contain reactions to a material ground of being contingent with the integration/imbibing of waves/fluids. The primary examples for this include the hydra-blood that freed Prometheus from stone and Herakles from life, the nectar of immortality he drank upon his death, the wine-blood of Christ that freed Adam from stone and his followers from mortality, and the form of waves and fields Einstein added to the theoretical particle.

This dissertation argues that the reason fluids have played such integral roles in the historical and symbolic transcendence of material/embodied isolation and Classical atoms (isolated matter) is because—unlike material particulates—fluids and waves are capable of union and harmony. My read of particle-wave duality is as a new foundation that challenges atomized cosmologies and worldviews leading many towards a vision of self as estranged from other. My final argument is that each of these prominent Western knowledge traditions present stories that follow a meta-narrative arc defined by an initial commitment to a materially grounded cosmology that is later enhanced—if not healed—by theoretical waves and symbolic elixirs.

Keywords: Mythology, Philosophy, Science, Religion, Wave

Stromback, Dennis. "Nishida's Philosophical Resistance to the Secular-Religion Binary." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2019. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/596338.

Saldino, Andrew R. "Just speech The grammar of an ethics beyond essence /." Related electronic resource: Current Research at SU : database of SU dissertations, recent titles available full text, 2006. http://proquest.umi.com/login?COPT=REJTPTU0NWQmSU5UPTAmVkVSPTI=&clientId=3739.

Martin, Craig Edward. "Policing public/private borders religion, liberalism, and the 'private judgment of the magistrate' /." Related electronic resource:, 2007. https://login.libezproxy2.syr.edu/login?qurl=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1441187521&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=3739&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

Ghan, Chris. "The daevas in Zoroastrian scripture." Thesis, University of Missouri - Columbia, 2016. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10180876.

Falk, Jane E. "The Beat Avant-Garde, The 1950's, and the Popularizing of Zen Buddhism in the United States." The Ohio State University, 2002. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1363621100.

Gaier, Robyn. "Understanding God’s Justice Towards Those Who Suffer: A Critique of Eleonore Stump’s Defense." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1107802929.

Carter, James C. "Moral religion : the later Ricoeur's hermeneutics of ethical life." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a61e7435-46a0-43dc-9dd5-d73c937bd8dd.

Schulze, Jennifer. "Religionsfilosofins uppgift i en senmodern, mångreligiös och pluralistisk värld." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-384622.

O'Boyle, Manus Patrick. "Religion, ethnicity and policy in Catholic schools in Northern Ireland." Thesis, Queen's University Belfast, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.318777.

Briba, Martin. "Politique et religion dans la philosophie de Thomas Hobbes." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2002. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/NQ66126.pdf.

Simpson, Christopher Ben. "Divine hyperbolics : Desmond, religion, metaphysics and the postmodern." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2008. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/10510/.

Perez, Celestino. "Juergen Habermas and Pope John Paul II on faith, reason, and politics in the modern world." [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2008. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3319921.

McGregor, Richard J. A. "A study of sainthood in medieval Islamic Egypt : Muhammad and Ali Wafa." Thesis, McGill University, 2001. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=37780.

West, Thomas Andrew. ""A Genuinely Missionary Encounter"| The Proper Lens for Viewing Lesslie Newbigin's Theology." Thesis, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10277007.

This study argues that Lesslie Newbigin’s doctrine of Scripture is best seen when viewed through the lens of his theology of missionary encounter. For this point to be made, two important aspects of Newbigin’s thought must be systematized and related to each another. First, it will be shown that Newbigin has a theology of missionary encounter. Second, Newbigin’s theology of missionary encounter will be shown to function as a lens to view his theology in general and his doctrine of Scripture in particular. Chapter 1 explains the research topic and the limits of the thesis. Chapter 2 shows the presence of Newbigin’s theological ambition that led to his theology of missionary encounter. Chapter 3 reveals the formative role that Newbigin’s theology of missionary encounter had on his theological method and theological project as a whole. Chapter 4 builds upon the previous two chapters by using Newbigin’s theology of missionary encounter as a lens to view his doctrine of Scripture. Chapter 5 considers what the nature of Newbigin’s theology reveals about Newbigin as a theologian.

Chapter 1, “Introducing The Research Topic,” introduces Lesslie Newbigin and the thesis of this research. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader with the research focus, understanding of key concepts, and the delimits of the issues involved. First, attention is given to understanding the place of this dissertation within the literature and the personal journey that led to the writing of this dissertation. This chapter will highlight the importance of the topic by explaining the ways it contributes to the field of Newbigin studies as well as the discipline of theology in general.

Chapter 2 is an overview of Newbigin’s life and work. This chapter demonstrates the presence of Newbigin’s theological ambition to engage in a missionary encounter that resulted in his theology of missionary encounter. By examining Newbigin’s missionary theology, this chapter outlines the development of Newbigin’s theological ambition throughout his life. It is shown that his ambition to engage in a missionary encounter reached maturity later in his life as he articulated his theology of missionary encounter. At its core, Newbigin’s theology of missionary encounter is aimed at helping the Church recover the gospel, indwell the biblical story, and challenge the axioms of the culture with the axioms of the Bible in order to live as a faithful witness. The missionary encounter, this challenging of competing stories, takes place within the individual lives of members in a local congregation.

In order to show that Newbigin’s theology of missionary encounter best mediates his doctrine of scripture, consideration must be given to understanding the form and function of his theology as a whole. Chapter 3, “Newbigin’s Theological Method,” explores the structure of Newbigin’s theology. After surveying the structure of Newbigin’s theological method as a whole, the focus of this chapter narrows on a series of unpublished articles which Newbigin thought of as a sort of Dogmatics of his thought. The contextual nature of Newbigin’s theology makes it clear that a robust understanding of what Newbigin believed about anything must be understood in relation to his desire to bring the gospel story to bear on the cultural story. The intended point is that Newbigin’s theology of missionary encounter has a permeating presence throughout the form and function of his theology as a whole.

Chapter 4, “Systematizing Newbigin’s Doctrine of Scripture,” presents a systematization of Newbigin’s doctrine of Scripture with the help of his theology of missionary encounter. Building upon the previous two chapters, this chapter utilizes Newbigin’s theology of missionary encounter as a lens through which his doctrine of Scripture can be understood. The clarity of Newbigin’s doctrine of Scripture emerges as his theology refracted through the lens of his theology of missionary encounter. Newbigin’s doctrine of Scripture is presented in one summary sentence followed by seven categorical statements which are intended to exegete the summary sentence. Observing Newbigin’s missionary encounter between gospel and culture provides the proper lens for seeing what Newbigin believed about Scripture.

Chapter 5, “Newbigin’s Public and Prophetic Theology,” raises the question about what the nature of Newbigin’s theology reveals about Newbigin as a theologian. This chapter provides a concluding summary of the research involved and clears some paths for future research. While demonstrating the usefulness of Newbigin as a dialogue partner this chapter provides some cautions for appropriating Newbigin’s thought uncritically. Combining these different levels of analysis highlights the central role of Newbigin’s theology of missionary encounter in his theology.

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132 Philosophy Dissertation Topics: Inspirational Ideas List

Does your philosophy essay need revamping, and you don’t know where to start? Here are 132 top philosophy dissertation topics for your success.

Students pursuing art or social science-related course will have to deal with a philosophy essay at one time. Unpacking the various fundamental truths in different niches and establishing their relationships is not easy. This article provides you with tried and tested writing ideas for your philosophy assignment in college or university. Here is what to expect in this expert guide:

Definition of philosophy
Different parts of a philosophy dissertation
Top-notch philosophy writing prompts

You should be able to write and present a top-tier philosophy paper at the end of this reading. If you still have questions, our experts will be more than glad to help right away.

What Is A Philosophy Essay?

Philosophy refers to studying the elemental nature of reality, existence, and knowledge. As an academic discipline, this field is concerned with various theories and principles guiding a particular behavior. You can term it as people’s understanding of their relationship with the world and each other.

Therefore, philosophy as a discipline is concerned with the following:

A reasoned pursuit of underlying truths
A quest for understanding
An exploration of the various principles of conduct

The definition and the illustrations given above may look technical, but trust me, the inner core is fun and interesting. Otherwise, how would scholars like Immanuel Kant, Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates dedicate their lives to such a study? I know some are already scared at the mention of these names but don’t fret; we are not going any further with them.

Different Types of Philosophy

Again, we will not seek to unravel the complex subfields of philosophy and tire you with philosophical terms. You are here for the topics – that is what you will get in a few. However, in the meantime, here is a brief sketch of the essential subfields of philosophy:

Logic : Concerned with reasoning
Ethics : Deals with moral concepts
Metaphysics : Concerned with the first principles of things
Epistemology : Explores the scope and nature of knowledge

I am sure that you now have two or three topics from our discussions above. Before we majestically land on the list of philosophy topics, let us clear the runway with the following important cues.

Parts of a Philosophy Dissertation

Every form of writing has a unique structure with basic elements that define it. A philosophy dissertation also follows a particular format which is crucial for writing such an essay. The vital components of a philosophy dissertation include:

The title : It conveys the main idea of your philosophy paper in a concise but elaborative manner. Every philosophy title should have a particular scope and depth with an interesting angle for the reader. Remember that this will determine the length and breadth of your research and the paper length. The introduction : This section highlights your main claim and how you intend to prove it. It is where you state your position – your lecturer does not have to agree with it at first. The other sections will help you support it. The thesis statement is also here, and it provides a definite assertion about the topic under discussion. The stance you pick here should be consistent throughout the rest of your paper. Analysis and explanation of your thesis : This section gives you a chance to explain the meaning of the various terms used in your thesis. You do not present arguments at this stage but explain what you mean by your thesis statement. You should also write a little background information about your subject. Arguments supporting the thesis statement : Here is the flesh of your paper, requiring you to dig up strong arguments. It involves supporting your philosophy dissertation with evidence while refuting potential arguments from the opposition. Conclusion : You can summarize your main points, state your conclusion and wind up your dissertation.

Do you see how simple it is to write an outstanding philosophy dissertation? Now let us proceed to the fascinating topics that drew your attention to this professional guide. Furthermore, don’t you forget you can get any assignment help online from our professional team.

Interesting Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Discuss the difference in brain processes between the young and old
Factors that determine the religious beliefs of an individual
The role of desire in causing strife and anxiety
How feelings affect the interaction of people
Discuss events and occurrences that lead to sensations
How passion determines one’s possibility to succeed in a given venture
The role of will in making important decisions and accepting the consequences
Effects of personality on growth and development patterns
Discuss the relationship between reason and religion
How intentions affect the outcome of events
Why do people throw the blame on others when something goes wrong?
The role of ordinary physical events in determining our actions
Can man act freely without being induced by internal or external forces
How biology attempts to explore the field of philosophy
Explore the logic of scientific findings and inventions
Do scientific theories and laws offer a final answer to the questions of nature?
Explain the difference in interactions between adolescent boys and girls

Examples Of Dissertation Topics For Uni

Evaluate the need for compulsory education
What determines the preferential treatment of the silent minority in society?
Discuss the justice of taxation in social philosophy
Analyze the cultural determinants of moral limits
Explain the role of free expression in a democratic state
Factors that determine the relationship between a patient and a physician
Why do special medical procedures attract questions?
Discuss why abortion is still a subject of contention today?
Does euthanasia demean the human right to life?
Discuss the differences in animal and human interactions
Explore the ethical standards for conducting medical research
Is it right to experiment using human subjects?
The science behind art and appeal to emotion
Factors involved in evaluating works of art
Evaluate the relationship between cosmetic appliances and morality
How does science influence the manner of life today?
Determine how words create meaning in communication

The Best Business Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Is profit-making a wrong motive in business ethics?
Discuss the scope and nature of the social responsibilities of corporations
The effects of business monopoly in a free society
How should businesses relate to each other without creating a conflict of interest?
Modern discussions on the fundamental purposes of a company
The pursuit of money and exploitation in business
Effects of commercial civilization on business ethics
Should money always be the end goal in a business venture?
Factors that make a business decision ethical
Character and virtues that determine ethical business undertakings
The role of moral codes of conduct in business
Evaluate the relationship between happiness and making money
The role of corporate moral agencies
Discuss the various important frameworks for business ethics
Evaluate how advertising leads to manipulation
Explain the business ethics behind hiring and firing
Do companies offer meaningful compensation for work done?

Advanced Science Philosophy Topics

Evaluate the philosophy of statistics in science
Explain how the science of numbers is essential in answering the central questions about life
The role of modern physics in shaping reality
Science philosophy and its contribution to causality and determinism questions
Effects of quantum mechanics on making work easier
Does the philosophy of chemistry always confirm findings?
How experimentation leads to solid conclusions
Evaluate the use of indirect measures as evidence in chemistry
How chemical bonds help explain relationships in reality
Discuss the developments made in the philosophy of astronomy
Determine the reliability of theories and formulas used in scientific studies
The difference between philosophical insights and scientific findings
Analyze the mechanisms of obtaining and verifying knowledge using science philosophy
Discuss ethical issues in epistemological studies
Evaluate the rise of the modern synthesis in biology
Genetic engineering and philosophical inferences
Incorporation of scientific study into the psychology

Relevant Topics In Philosophy

How ancient philosophy is shaping modern life
The implication of western civilization on developing nations
Differences between philosophy in Africa and Latin America
The role of stoicism in modern movements
Evaluate ethics and moral philosophy in America
Effects of empiricism on modern-day philosophy
How the philosophy of the mind is crucial in times of pandemics
The role of philosophy in Computer Science and Mathematics in innovations
The crucial role of crowds during political campaigns
Discuss the philosophy of race and racism in the US
Distinguish regional philosophical traditions between the US and UK
Discuss modern problems of ancient philosophy
Emerging issues in environmental philosophy: A case of global warming
Analyze action theory
Why is anarchism more likely today than in the ancient world?
The role of intelligence in success
Importance of logical studies in college

Custom Political Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Evaluate the pressing social and political issues of the 21 st century
Discuss the relationship between political and legal philosophy
How social media is changing modern-day politics
The relationship between propaganda and campaigns
Discuss the various theories of political revolution
How do the theories of utopia shape today’s politics?
Criminal justice and authoritarianism
Feminist and liberal traditions in political philosophy
Evaluate the tenets of capitalism versus socialism
How modern-day developments are shrinking or expanding democracy
Does 21 st -century politics need a conservative free-market economy?
Explain the impact of government intervention in social affairs
How the Ukraine-Russian war is a reflection of ancient political rivalry
Discuss how nationalism shapes political peace
How group rights play into political campaigns
The effects of colonialism on a country’s political structure
Discuss the problem of technology in modern-day politics

Feminist Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Evaluate the various feminist interventions in philosophy
The role of feminist beliefs and resultant feminist movements
Evaluate the normative and descriptive feminist components
How the society is embracing the diversity of women
Discuss feminism as anti-sexism
Evaluate the general treatment of women in the institution of marriage
The role of feminism in championing gender equity
Differences in how men and women view the subject of love
Explain how the complexities of a woman impact her location
Discuss how the society continues to undervalue women’s problems
Feminism and the rise of civil movements supporting women
The role of feminine subjects in shaping the central concepts of philosophy
Analyze the contribution of feminist philosophers
The place of feminism in classical American philosophy
Analyze emerging feminist philosophical circles
The analytic philosophy methods of understanding feminism
The role of feminist movements in the girl-child empowerment

Reliable Philosophy Of Religion Dissertation Topics

The philosophical reflection of common religious beliefs
The role of religion in encouraging positivism
Evaluate reformed religious epistemology
Discuss theism and emerging alternatives in the 21 st century
Discuss the role of religion in answering cosmological arguments
Evaluate the role of religion in dealing with the problems of evil
How religious experience affects societal views
Discuss the effects of religious pluralism in developing nations
How the media is propagating religious beliefs in the modern world
Discuss the emergence of religious extremism in the wake of terrorism
Evaluate the crucial role played by religion in spearheading morals and ethics in the society
How religious differences affect societal relationships
Analyze the conflict between atheism and Christianity

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The field of philosophy has great topics in almost every aspect of our lives. Whether watching TV or attending a worship service, philosophy will always come into play. Students who are still struggling can find our professional dissertation help useful in many ways. We have excellent writers ready to offer top-notch assignment assistance in any field. With our 24/7 customer support, you can just pay someone to do your assignment and get perfect grades effortlessly. Try our fast and reliable online help for your philosophy assignment needs today!

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Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Introduction

Philosophy Dissertation Topics of Research

Topic 2: Sociological Functionalism- Investigating the Development and Beliefs

Topic 3: Assessing the History and Development of Philosophical Work from the 15th to 21st Century.

Topic 4: A Comprehensive View of Social Development of Loneliness.

Topic 5: What does it mean to live in an Ideal Society- Discuss using Plato's Philosophies.

More Philosophy Dissertation Research Topics

Topic 2: Should people always obey the rules? A closer look at the line between breaking rules and rebellion.

Topic 3: Loneliness: Reconstructing its meaning

Topic 4: Understanding why religion is paramount above anything else for many people around the globe.

Topic 5: What is the best way to boost a person’s creativity?

Topic 6: Morality and religion: Why are they different, yet they talk about the same thing?

Topic 7: Wealth: Is it possible to be rich without having a lot of money?

Topic 8: How can the custom of dowry be eliminated from people’s minds?

Topic 9: To love or to be loved: Which is more important?

Topic 10: Why social behaviour and ethics cannot be separated?

Topic 11: A more in-depth look at things that make human life meaningful.

Topic 12: Is it possible to create an ideal society?

Topic 13: A closer look at modern life values.

Topic 14: Euthanasia: Is it ethical?

Topic 15: What is the value of truth? Are there instances when lying is good?

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