This is the blog area for the Evangelical Philosophical Society and its journal, Philosophia Christi.
Monday, August 29, 2022
The website includes
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Imprint Academic just released, Selfhood, Autism and Thought Insertion, co-edited by Mihretu P. Guta and Sophie Gibb. Guta is currently teaching philosophy at Biola University, Azusa Pacific University, and Addis Ababa University. He is also working on a manuscript entitled The Metaphysics of Substance and Personhood: A Non-Theory Laden Approach. Sophie Gibb is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Durham University. Recent papers are on the ontology of the mental causation debate, the subset account of property realization, and tropes and laws.
From the publisher's description:
This book, a reprint of a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies, presents engaging and informative analysis of three interrelated notions, namely: selfhood, the first-person pronoun 'I', and the first-person perspective. Philosophers have long debated about these notions on non-empirical grounds, often focusing on the question of whether the first-person pronoun 'I', beyond its role as a grammatical term, has an underlying implication for the ontology of selfhood. Philosophers continuously grapple with whether the first-person pronoun ‘I’ is a referring expression and, if it is, what its referent is or could be. To give an adequate treatment of such questions, philosophers have begun working across the relevant disciplines. This book highlights some excellent examples of the complex nature of first-person thoughts as they figure in linguistics, autism, thought insertion in schizophrenia, and the phenomenon of mental autonomy. In Selfhood, Autism and Thought Insertion, many of the leading philosophers working on this issue, as well as a few emerging scholars, have written 12 new essays addressing questions besetting the ontology of selfhood. The essays address topics as diverse as reflections on E.J. Lowe’s non-Cartesian substance dualism, physical determinism, the metaphysics and anti-metaphysics of the self, animalism, neo-Lockean persons, rationality and the first person, whether the first person is essentially a linguistic concept, first-person and third-person perspectives and autism, consciousness, the first-person perspective and neuro-imaging, thought insertion, and mental autonomy. The contributors to this volume do not agree in all of the details associated with the notion of selfhood, yet they all have a common conviction that the central questions besetting it must be taken seriously.
In 2011, Guta published an article in Philosophia Christi on "Frank Jackson's Location Problem and Argument from the Self" (vol. 13, no. 1).
Labels: Autism and Thought Insertion (book), consciousness, descartes, e.j. lowe, featured books, mihretu guta, ontology, philosophical anthropology, Selfhood, sophie gibb
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Submission deadline: March 30, 2021.
From the blog of the APA:
The APA’s newest prize was established in honor of Alvin Plantinga, John A. O’Brien Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and a past president of the APA Central Division. The Alvin Plantinga Prize is funded through the generosity of the Bossenbroek Family Foundation. The prize will recognize original essays that engage philosophical issues about or in substantial ways related to theism. One prize of $10,000 and up to two honorable mention prizes of $5,000 each will be awarded annually. Submissions must be in English, within the range of 6,000–10,000 words. Submissions will be assessed according to canons of excellence for which Alvin Plantinga is eminent: clarity, rigor, and originality.
Any APA member may submit an essay. To submit an essay by March 30, fill out the submission form.
Labels: alvin plantinga
Monday, January 25, 2021
Labels: incarnation, kalam, philosophical theology, philosophy of mathematics, platonic realism, problem of evil, providence, Winter 2020
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
“Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;” (2 Corinthians 1:10)
Ben Arbour, and his wife Meg, passed away on Friday November 6, 2020. Their death seems to have been sudden, and it was certainly tragic. They were the victims of a drag race early in the morning that Friday.
I am still dismayed by Ben’s (and Meg’s, but I will focus on Ben) death. The feeling of shock has stayed with me since I first heard the news early Friday morning shortly after waking up.
Ben, as many have stated already, was an extrovert. He was outgoing and loved a good discussion or a bit of banter. He would call you up randomly and delineate an argument he had been turning over in his head that day. Often the argument had something to do with Higher-Ed, politics, theology, or, his favorite topic—metaphysical idealism.
Ben was an important figure in Christian philosophy. Investing himself primarily in the Evangelical Philosophical Society, he broadened his influence internationally through his writings on Anselmian theism and Open Theism. Both conservative and traditional, Ben was rightly discouraged and critical of the left leaning trend in the world of “Christian Philosophy”—something he saw as ironically the beginning of the end for the community. Ben lived out his convictions and was unafraid to challenge the convictions of others—even when it meant speaking against the trends of our times. Ben, for all the reasons here mentioned, was an important fixture in the Christian philosophy community. He challenged ideas and, most importantly, he brought people together for philosophical discussion (at times those with quite disparate perspectives). He organized several philosophical conferences for EPS and others. For this reason alone, he is a significant figure in our community and his absence will be noticed by all.
More importantly, Ben was a friend. Good friends are hard to find. Ben often challenged me in ways that I found frustrating, but after some time I knew it came from a heart that loved me and my virtue—whether it be intellectual or volitional. His life was instructive in this way in that he prodded his friends toward virtue.
His death has been instructive. When I heard others jump to the hope before properly processing his untimely death, I was discouraged. His death was and is devastating. While I am weary of easy believ-ism, my resolve is to trust that He will deliver us from the grave. He has been faithful in the past, and he will be faithful again. I will see Ben again.
Labels: ben arbour, remembering ben arbour
Monday, November 23, 2020
On the night of Thursday, November 5th, just after midnight, Ben and Meg Arbour were tragically killed while coming home from a date. They were hit by a street racer less than two blocks from their home. I heard the news of their deaths on Friday morning at around 10am. In that instant, time slowed and my world changed. Those of you who met Ben know that he didn’t know a stranger. You also know that he and Meg touched and positively impacted so many lives. If you didn’t know him, chances are you knew others who did. Within the Christian Philosophical community, there were far fewer than six degrees that separated Ben from any other person. Personally, for me he was one of a handful of my closest friends.Ben thrived on his friends, they were like oxygen for him, and he was in his element in large crowds where he knew lots of people. I went to several conferences with him and it was typical to find Ben at lunch or dinner trying his best to gather every single one of his friends to go somewhere for a meal. I think he enjoyed those gatherings more than the presentations, and he really enjoyed the presentations.But I enjoyed the smaller gatherings, especially when just the five of us, Ben and I along with Jay Howell, Brad Palmer, and David Williams, would hang out. The last thing we did was go golfing for Brad’s and my birthdays. Two weeks before that, we’d gathered at my house to play the board game, Pandemic which Ben thoroughly enjoyed.It hurts. And I know his family is hurting exponentially more. Please pray for Ben and Meg’s four children as they cope and begin to face a life without their parents. (If you are wanting to help, please consider contributing to a fund set up for their kids through Wedgewood Baptist Church at Arbourfund.org. Make sure to designate your donation to “Arbour fund.”) But there is comfort in all this. It is a comfort found in the faith and hope to which Ben and Meg held. Their faith was in Christ who came so that all may be saved and find hope; their hope was in the resurrection. I look forward to seeing Ben again. Much to Ben’s pleasure, it’ll be a bigger group next time, but I know I’ll see him again, because my faith and hope are the same.
Labels: ben arbour, remembering ben arbour
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Ben was a wonderful, relentless, indefatigable advocate for clarity in our speech about God, purity in our devotion to Christ, and charity in our conduct by the Spirit. He was a loyal friend: equal measures bold and honest. He knew no strangers because he showed no partiality. He argued fiercely because he cared deeply. He took his work seriously but he could laugh at himself. His friends knew that even a causal joke directed his way would provoke a serious response - even as he chuckled at the absurdity.
I realized when I met Ben that I did not love analytic philosophy. I wouldn't do it for free or as a hobby. But, Ben's professional accomplishments were something he happened to do when the more pressing business of his work or family or church was complete. He had a passion in his pursuits that was contagious, even if his grit and tenacity for argument were so surpassing that few could imitate the frenzied pace of his joyous life. Ben was a hurricane that could argue.
I will miss him until the Day, and the academic community is poorer for the vacuum of personality and insight that Ben leaves behind.
For the EPS web project on The Philosophy of Theological Anthropology, Ben and John wrote on "Transgenderism, Human Ontology, and the Metaphysics of Properties."
Labels: ben arbour, remembering ben arbour
Monday, November 16, 2020
Join a cast of characters, with different perspectives, thinking through some of the biggest questions in life, as they discuss atheist Richard Dawkins’ book Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide. Written in the form of a dialogue between members of a student book club, Outgrowing God? A Beginner’s Guide to Richard Dawkins and the God Debate encourages critical thinking about Professor Dawkins’ arguments concerning God, Jesus and the Bible.
Learn more about the book by visiting PeterSWilliams.com, along with links to supplemental resources, including various videos and papers presented by Williams.
Labels: atheism, featured books, new atheists, Outgrowing God (book), Peter S. Williams, peter williams
Thursday, November 5, 2020
1:30 PM – 4:40 PM (Eastern)
Author Meets Critic: Joshua Swamidass’ The Genealogical Adam and Eve.
Moderator: Ken Keathley (Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Panelists:
Labels: 2020 EPS Conference, aquinas, daniel houck, deborah haarsma, evolution, feline do vale, hans madueme, original sin, origins
Labels: 2020 EPS Conference, analytic theology, dolf te velde, Jonathan Pennington, nathaniel gray sutanto, scott swaim, scripture, scripture and philosophy, steven duby
Labels: 2020 EPS Conference, Islam, public theology, work
Labels: 2020 EPS Conference, angus mengue, atonement, craig carter, Islam, kevin voss, matthew kaemingk, nominalism, r. scott smith, richard davis, roland ehlke, sam shamoun, scott smith, william lane craig
