Religion: Key Concepts in Philosophy

Sorting out the questions and purposes of religion has never ceased to be a major philosophical preoccupation, and the effort seems to have increased substantially in recent years despite claims that philosophy is now firmly settled into the secular. Sweetman (philosophy, Rockhurst U.) gives undergraduates and general readers the high points in historical and current thought, including some of the pop culture debates about pop culture and the growing legend of Galileo. He covers the necessity for knowing one's own attitudes in debating elements of religion, first cause and design, including wide-ranging cosmological arguments, necessary being, morality, miracles, the classical view of God and its challenges, God and evil, religious experience and God, religion and science, and religious diversity, covering exclusivism, pluralism and inclusivism. First-timers should find this accessible, and Sweetman includes a guide to further reading, Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Brendan Sweetman is Professor and Chair in the Department of Philosophy at Rockhurst University, USA. He is the author of Religion: Key Conceptsin Philosophy (Continuum, 2006) andco-editor of Contemporary Perspectives on Religious Epistemology (OUP, 1992).