SEMINARS IN CHRISTIAN SCHOLARSHIP - 1999 Funds provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts

Realism and Antirealism June 21-July 30, 1999 William P. Alston, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Syracuse University Realism can be briefly described as the view that there are realities that are what they are independently of our cognition of them--of our conceptualizations, beliefs, and theories about them. Though realism has generally been taken for granted, it has been under increasing attack in the last 200 years. At present it is widely rejected in humanistic disciplines. This seminar will consider what can be said for and against both realism and various forms of antirealism. Participants will also examine a related issue about truth. Here the realist position is that a belief or assertion is true if and only if what it is about is as the belief or assertion takes it to be. Antirealist alternatives generally construe truth as some sort of epistemic status, such as conclusive justification or fitting into an ideally coherent system. Attention will be given to the bearing of these issues on religious belief and thought. Although the literature on which the seminar will concentrate is drawn from philosophy, scholars in other fields are encouraged to apply and, if accepted, to bring their concerns into the discussion. Public Lecture Audio Information Follow-up Conference

God and Evil June 21-July 30, 1999 Peter van Inwagen, John Cardinal O'Hara Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame Christians often ask why a loving and all-powerful God allows terrible things to happen. Atheists have a simple answer: if there were a loving and all-powerful God, He wouldn't allow terrible things to happen, and, since terrible things do happen, it follows that a loving and all-powerful God does not exist. This argument for the non-existence of God is sometimes called the Argument from Evil--"evil" being just another way of saying "terrible things." This seminar is both an examination of the Argument from Evil and an introduction to the best current philosophical thinking about the argument. The perspective of the seminar is that of traditional Christian doctrine--particularly the doctrine of an historical Fall and the conviction that "our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." The principal topics discussed will include: the nature of God; the nature of creation; the freedom of the will; the nature of evil and sin; love; chance; Providence; evolution; probability; faith; the relation of reason and argument to religious (and other) belief. The readings that will be discussed in the seminar will be largely drawn from current work in the analytical philosophy of religion. Scholars whose training is not in analytical philosophy are, however, encouraged to apply. Public Lecture Audio Information Follow-up Conference

Contact seminars@calvin.edu. Last revised on 23 December 2003 by A.B. Chadderdon.