Daniel_Cheung
07-20-2009, 11:16 PM
Yujin Nagasawa and Erik J. Wielenberg (eds.), New Waves in Philosophy of Religion, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, 219pp., $32.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780230223851.
http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=16665
Reviewed by Kelly James Clark, Calvin College
This is a collection in Palgrave's "New Waves in Philosophy" series, which is intended to bring together essays by the best of the new generation of philosophers. There are likely to be disputes about which new philosophers are the best (but if, as chapter 2 defends, God need not create the best, then the editors may be relieved of this burden as well), which topics are the current rage, and whether or not these philosophers are really new (one contributor, for example, is approaching fifty and has a surprising amount of gray hair). Furthermore, every reviewer is likely to say how he or she would have written such a book. I'll refrain from making any such comments or criticisms save one at the end of the review.
While the philosophers may be new, it's not entirely clear that the waves are. There is a lot of that good old time Western philosophy of religion here: same old topics, but new, decidedly more technical, approaches. Consider the authors and titles: Daniel Hill, "A New Definition of Omnipotence in Terms of Sets"; Klaas Kraay, "Can God Choose the World at Random"; T. J. Mawson, "Why Is There Anything at All"; Alexander Pruss, "Programs, Bugs, DNA and a Design Argument"; Neil Manson, "The 'Why Design?' Question"; David Efird, "Divine Command Theory and the Semantics of Quantified Modal Logic"; Christian Miller, "Divine Desire Theory and Obligation"; Daniel Howard-Snyder, "The Puzzle of Prayers of Thanksgiving and Praise"; Tim Bayne and Greg Restall, "A Participatory Model of the Atonement"; Christopher Eberle, "Basic Human Worth: Religious and Secular Perspectives"; and Thaddeus Metz, "Imperfection as Sufficient for a Meaningful Life: How Much Is Enough?" Perhaps if God is immutable, and in this book we find mostly philosophy of God, we might not expect topical revolutions....
http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=16665
Reviewed by Kelly James Clark, Calvin College
This is a collection in Palgrave's "New Waves in Philosophy" series, which is intended to bring together essays by the best of the new generation of philosophers. There are likely to be disputes about which new philosophers are the best (but if, as chapter 2 defends, God need not create the best, then the editors may be relieved of this burden as well), which topics are the current rage, and whether or not these philosophers are really new (one contributor, for example, is approaching fifty and has a surprising amount of gray hair). Furthermore, every reviewer is likely to say how he or she would have written such a book. I'll refrain from making any such comments or criticisms save one at the end of the review.
While the philosophers may be new, it's not entirely clear that the waves are. There is a lot of that good old time Western philosophy of religion here: same old topics, but new, decidedly more technical, approaches. Consider the authors and titles: Daniel Hill, "A New Definition of Omnipotence in Terms of Sets"; Klaas Kraay, "Can God Choose the World at Random"; T. J. Mawson, "Why Is There Anything at All"; Alexander Pruss, "Programs, Bugs, DNA and a Design Argument"; Neil Manson, "The 'Why Design?' Question"; David Efird, "Divine Command Theory and the Semantics of Quantified Modal Logic"; Christian Miller, "Divine Desire Theory and Obligation"; Daniel Howard-Snyder, "The Puzzle of Prayers of Thanksgiving and Praise"; Tim Bayne and Greg Restall, "A Participatory Model of the Atonement"; Christopher Eberle, "Basic Human Worth: Religious and Secular Perspectives"; and Thaddeus Metz, "Imperfection as Sufficient for a Meaningful Life: How Much Is Enough?" Perhaps if God is immutable, and in this book we find mostly philosophy of God, we might not expect topical revolutions....