Religions, Reasons and Gods
Essays in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Religion

Clayton explores the diverse applications of theistic proofs in the work of philosophers and theologians.

John Clayton (Author), Anne M. Blackburn (Prepared for publication by), Thomas D. Carroll (Prepared for publication by)

9780521126274, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 January 2010

396 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.58 kg

"...widely accessible for undergraduates and interested general readers...highly recommended for all scholars." --Gregory A. Walter, St. Olaf College: Philosophy in Review

Traditional theistic proofs are often understood as evidence intended to compel belief in a divinity. John Clayton explores the surprisingly varied applications of such proofs in the work of philosophers and theologians from several periods and traditions, thinkers as varied as Ramanuja, al-Ghazali, Anselm, and Jefferson. He shows how the gradual disembedding of theistic proofs from their diverse and local religious contexts is concurrent with the development of natural theologies and atheism as social and intellectual options in early modern Europe and America. Clayton offers a fresh reading of the early modern history of philosophy and theology, arguing that awareness of such history, and the local uses of theistic argument, offer important ways of managing religious and cultural difference in the public sphere. He argues for the importance of historically grounded philosophy of religion to the field of religious studies and public debate on religious pluralism and cultural diversity.

Editorial preface
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
1. Claims, contexts and contestability
Part I. Reason and Religious Pluralism: 2. Thomas Jefferson and the study of religion
3. Common ground and defensible difference
4. Religions, reasons and gods
Part II. Theistic Arguments in Pre-Modern Contexts: 5. Ramanuja, Hume and 'comparative philosophy'
6. Piety and the proofs
7. The otherness of Anselm
Part III. Theistic Arguments in Early-Modern Contexts: 8. The debate about God in early-modern French philosophy
9. The debate about God in early-modern German philosophy
10. The debate about God in early-modern British philosophy
11. Beyond the 'enlightenment project'?
Appendix. The 1997 Hulsean sermon
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Sociology & anthropology [JH], Theology [HRLB], Philosophy of religion [HRAB], Religion: general [HRA], Philosophy [HP]