Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Philosophy

Research keywords:

Philosophy of religion, Divine personhood, Problem of evil, Ontological argument, Panentheism, Iris Murdoch, Alvin Plantinga

Summary of research interests and expertise:

I have taught Philosophy of Religion for almost thirty years, and have published papers both in leading journals, including the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies, and in edited collections. These include work on the philosophy of religion of Iris Murdoch and Alvin Plantinga, divine personhood, the ontological argument, panentheism, the problem of evil in continental philosophy, and feminist philosophy of religion. What is this thing called philosophy of religion? (Routledge) is an introduction to Analytic Philosophy of Religion which draws on texts by scholars from a variety of religious traditions, while Continental Philosophy of Religion in the Cambridge Elements series (Cambridge University Press) focuses on key elements in the work of twelve scholars. I have recently edited a special issue of the European Journal for Philosophy of Religion on philosophy, religion and hope, and my ongoing projects are concerned with the philosophy of Muhammad Iqbal, theodicy, and prayer.

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
03-Jun-2022	Murdoch and Christianity, in The Murdochian Mind, ed. Mark Hopwood and Silvia Panizza (London: Routledge), 382-394. Chapters Iris Murdoch’s attitude to Christianity may be described as ambivalent. On the one hand, her biographers document her interest in Christianity and note that she sometimes referred to herself as a Christian. But her philosophical writings demonstrate a clear rejection of belief in a personal God and, as A. N. Wilson records, she talked constantly of a desire to find or found ‘a new Christianity which has discarded the fiction of God and focuses on the spiritual Christ’ (2004: 213). This chapter attempts to construct a systematic account of Murdoch’s ‘new Christianity’ and its relationship with Plato’s Form of the Good. I examine one key objection—the claim that the idea of a personal God is so central to the scriptures, doctrines and practices of Christianity that a Godless Christianity cannot be regarded as a form of Christianity. I argue that Murdoch has no need to dispense with the concept of God, which can be construed as personal in a metaphorical sense which is compatible with many of the teachings and practices of Christianity.
15-Jun-2021	Evil and divine power: A response to James Sterba’s argument from evil Journal articles In this article, I offer a response to James P. Sterba’s moral argument for the non-existence of God. Sterba applies to God the so-called Pauline Principle that it is not permissible to do evil in order that good may come. He suggests that this is the underlying element in discussions of the Doctrine of Double Effect, a doctrine that has been largely overlooked by philosophers of religion. Although, as hypothetical trolley cases demonstrate, human beings sometimes cannot avoid doing or permitting evil in order to prevent a greater evil, Sterba argues that the same cannot be said of an omnipotent God and that, since our world contains horrendous evils, the existence of a God who is both omnipotent and good is therefore logically impossible. I argue that, if God is thought to be a conscious being with unlimited power to prevent horrendous evils, Sterba’s argument might be valid. I also argue, however, that divine power need not be construed in this way. Drawing on some ideas derived from the work of Charles Hartshorne, I suggest that God is not a kind of divine micromanager and that it is more coherent and, indeed, helpful to think of God as a social influencer whose power is a source of positive energy for the promotion of goodness.  Keywords: problem of evil; theodicy; process theology; process theodicy; Charles Hartshorne
22-Jul-2020	Evil, prayer and transformation Journal articles Analytic theodicy commonly suggests an overarching reason why a benevolent, omniscient and omnipotent deity permits the quantity and intensity of suffering in our world. This is often couched in terms of freedom of belief or action, or some other variation of the claim that suffering is “worth the price.” I argue that not even the hope of post-mortem consolation could adequately compensate any individual for the inevitable loss of everything which makes, or might have made, life in this world worth living. By contrast, transformational theodicy argues that suffering is an unfortunate by-product of our evolving world. All living things are connected to other living things by means of networks, symbolised for John Hick by Indra’s Net. Divinity is both the force which brought about the beginning of the universe and sustains its continued existence and an objectively existing standard of goodness which is manifested in varying degrees throughout our world, metaphorically conceived in terms of non-binary personhood. It casts light on human endeavours and provides a source of power on which humankind may draw by means of prayer or meditation to influence the networks of living things in order to prevent or alleviate suffering and promote the flourishing of living beings. Keywords: analytic problem of evil; existential problem of evil; theodicy; divine attributes; Indra’s Net; prayer; meditation; transformation
03-Dec-2018	Continental Philosophy of Religion Monographs This book in the Cambridge Elements series presents key features from the writings on religion of twelve philosophers working in or influenced by the continental tradition (Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Rosenzweig, Tillich, Derrida, Caputo, Levinas, Hadot, Jantzen, and Anderson). It argues for a hybrid methodology which enables transformational religious responses to the problems associated with human existence (the existential problems of meaning, suffering, and death) to be supported both by reasoned argument and by revelation, narrative philosophy, and experiential verification.
08-Nov-2018	How to prove the existence of God: an argument for conjoined panentheism Journal articles This article offers an argument for a form of panentheism in which the divine is conceived as both ‘God the World’ and ‘God the Good’. ‘God the World’ captures the notion that the totality of everything which exists is ‘in’ God, while acknowledging that, given evil and suffering, not everything is ‘of’ God. ‘God the Good’ encompasses the idea that God is also the universal concept of Goodness, akin to Plato’s Form of the Good as developed by Iris Murdoch, which is inextricably conjoined with God the World because it is the nature of the world which determines the nature of perfect Goodness. This form of ‘conjoined’ panentheism yields a concept of divine personhood which includes both divine agency and human/divine engagement. God the Good is an agent of change by providing human persons with a standard of Goodness against which to measure the goodness of their own actions, while God the World provides the physical embodiment through which God acts. Human engagement with the divine may take a number of forms and may lead to moral action, the means by which the divine acts upon the world and changes it for the better.
30-Aug-2018	Patching Plantinga’s Ontological Argument by Making the Murdoch Move Chapters In Jerry L. Walls and Trent Dougherty (eds) Two Dozen (or so) Arguments for God: The Plantinga Project, proceedings of a conference in honour of Alvin Plantinga, Baylor University, Waco, Texas (6-8 November 2014), (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 123-136.
22-Jun-2018	Continental philosophy, evil and suffering Chapters In Jerome Gellman (ed.) The History of Evil from the Mid- Twentieth Century to Today (1950-2018), Volume VI of Chad Meister and Charles Taliaferro (eds) The History of Evil (London: Routledge), 152-166.
09-Oct-2017	What is This Thing Called Philosophy of Religion? Monographs Introduces the core topics studied on philosophy of religion undergraduate courses including: • the meaning of religious language, including 20th century developments • the nature of the Divine, including divine power, wisdom and action? • arguments for the existence of the Divine • challenges to belief in the Divine, including the problems of evil, divine hiddenness and religious diversity • believing without arguments • arguments for life after death, including reincarnation. In addition to the coverage of key themes within the subject area the book explores the topics from the perspectives of the five main world religions, introducing students to the work of scholars from a variety of religious traditions and interpretations of belief.
03-Mar-2017	Feminist Philosophy of Religion Chapters In Donald M. Borchert (ed.) Philosophy: Religion. Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks: Philosophy series. (Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference USA/Gale, a Cengage Company), 347-360; reprinted in 2017: Carol Hay (ed.) Philosophy: Feminism. Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks: Philosophy series. (Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference USA/Gale, a Cengage Company), 363-375.
30-Jul-2015	Images of reality: Iris Murdoch’s five ways from art to religion Journal articles Art plays a significant role in Iris Murdoch’s moral philosophy, a major part of which may be interpreted as a proposal for the revision of religious belief. In this paper, I identify within Murdoch’s philosophical writings five distinct but related ways in which great art can assist moral/religious belief and practice: art can reveal to us “the world as we were never able so clearly to see it before”; this revelatory capacity provides us with evidence for the existence of the Good, a metaphor for a transcendent reality of which God was also a symbol; art is a “hall of reflection” in which “everything under the sun can be examined and considered”; art provides us with an analogue for the way in which we should try to perceive our world; and art enables us to transcend our selfish concerns. I consider three possible objections: that Murdoch’s theory is not applicable to all forms of art; that the meaning of works of art is often ambiguous; and that there is disagreement about what constitutes a great work of art. I argue that none of these objections are decisive, and that all forms of art have at least the potential to furnish us with important tools for developing the insight required to live a moral/religious life.  Keywords: Iris Murdoch; aesthetics; moral philosophy; religion
19-Dec-2014	Classical and revisionary theism on the divine as personal: a rapprochement? Journal articles To claim that the divine is a person or personal is, according to Swinburne, ‘the most elementary claim of theism’ (The coherence of theism, 1993, p. 101). I argue that, whether the classical theist’s concept of the divine as a person or personal is construed as an analogy or a metaphor, or a combination of the two, analysis necessitates qualification of that concept such that any differences between the classical theist’s concept of the divine as a person or personal and revisionary interpretations of that concept are merely superficial. Thus, either the classical theist has more in common with revisionary theism than he/she might care to admit, or classical theism is a multi-faceted position which encompasses interpretations which some might regard as revisionist. This article also explores and employs the use of a gender-neutral pronoun in talk about God. Keywords: divine personhood; divine agency; analogy; metaphor; classical theism; revisionary theism; revisionist theism; gender-neutral pronoun
17-Nov-2014	Where the conflict really lies: Plantinga, the challenge of evil, and religious naturalism Journal articles In this paper I argue that, although Alvin Plantinga’s Felix Culpa theodicy appears on only two pages (i.e. 58-59) of his recent book Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism (2011), it is of pivotal importance for the book as a whole. Plantinga argues that there is superficial conflict but deep concord between science and monotheism, and that there is superficial concord but deep conflict between science and naturalism. I contend that the weakness of the Felix Culpa theodicy lends support to the view that there is more than superficial conflict between science and monotheism, and offer an alternative response to the challenge of evil which suggests that there might be, after all, concord between science and (religious) naturalism.
16-Nov-2012	Ontological arguments from experience: Daniel A. Dombrowski, Iris Murdoch, and the nature of divine reality Journal articles Dombrowski and Murdoch offer versions of the ontological argument which aim to avoid two types of objection – those concerned with the nature of the divine, and those concerned with the move from an abstract concept to a mind-independent reality. For both, the nature of the concept of God/Good entails its instantiation, and both supply a supporting argument from experience. It is only Murdoch who successfully negotiates the transition from an abstract concept to the instantiation of that concept, however, and this is achieved by means of an ontological argument from moral experience which, in a reversal of the Kantian doctrine, depends ultimately on a form of the cosmological argument.
03-May-2012	Is there a distinctively feminist Philosophy of Religion? Journal articles Feminist philosophers of religion such as Grace Jantzen and Pamela Sue Anderson have endeavoured, firstly, to identify masculine bias in the concepts of God found in the scriptures of the world’s religions and in the philosophical writings in which religious beliefs are assessed and proposed and, secondly, to transform the philosophy of religion, and thereby the lives of women, by recommending new or expanded epistemologies and using these to revision a concept of the divine which will inspire both women and men to work for the flourishing of the whole of humankind. It is argued, firstly, that the philosophies of Jantzen and Anderson are by no means as different from each other as they might, at first, appear. Secondly, it is suggested that their epistemologies are not distinctively feminist, and that the classical divine attributes of the Abrahamic faiths do not necessarily privilege the masculine. Perhaps the only way in which a philosophy of religion might be distinctively feminist is by emphasising the inclusion of women. This might mean being more open to concepts of the divine which are not, even in a metaphorical sense, masculine, and enhancing awareness of the ways in which abstract arguments about the divine could be relevant to the practical aspects of human life which have traditionally been the preserve of women. Insofar as these are increasingly also the responsibility of men, however, a feminist philosophy of religion might now be more appropriately characterised as an inclusivist philosophy of religion. Keywords: feminist philosophy of religion – feminist epistemology – concept of God – divine attributes – revisioning the divine – inclusivist philosophy of religion – Grace Jantzen – Pamela Sue Anderson

Publications available on SAS-space:

Date	Details
	The God Delusion: Dawkins on Religion PeerReviewed
	Is there a distinctively feminist philosophy of religion? PeerReviewed Feminist philosophers of religion such as Grace Jantzen and Pamela Sue Anderson have endeavoured, firstly, to identify masculine bias in the concepts of God found in the scriptures of the world’s religions and in the philosophical writings in which religious beliefs are assessed and proposed and, secondly, to transform the philosophy of religion, and thereby the lives of women, by recommending new or expanded epistemologies and using these to revision a concept of the divine which will inspire both women and men to work for the flourishing of the whole of humankind. It is argued, firstly, that the philosophies of Jantzen and Anderson are by no means as different from each other as they might, at first, appear. Secondly, it is suggested that their epistemologies are not distinctively feminist, and that the classical divine attributes of the Abrahamic faiths do not necessarily privilege the masculine. Perhaps the only way in which a philosophy of religion might be distinctively feminist is by emphasising the inclusion of women. This might mean being more open to concepts of the divine which are not, even in a metaphorical sense, masculine, and enhancing awareness of the ways in which abstract arguments about the divine could be relevant to the practical aspects of human life which have traditionally been the preserve of women. Insofar as these are increasingly also the responsibility of men, however, a feminist philosophy of religion might now be more appropriately characterised as an inclusivist philosophy of religion.
Nov-2012	Ontological arguments from experience: Daniel A. Dombrowski, Iris Murdoch, and the nature of divine reality PeerReviewed Dombrowski and Murdoch offer versions of the ontological argument which aim to avoid two types of objection - those concerned with the nature of the divine, and those concerned with the move from an abstract concept to a mind-independent reality. For both, the nature of the concept of God/Good entails its instantiation, and both supply a supporting argument from experience. It is only Murdoch who successfully negotiates the transition from an abstract concept to the instantiation of that concept, however, and this is achieved by means of an ontological argument from moral experience which, in a reversal of the Kantian doctrine, depends ultimately on a form of the cosmological argument.
Apr-2014	Where the conflict really lies: Plantinga, the challenge of evil, and religious naturalism PeerReviewed In this paper I argue that, although Alvin Plantinga’s Felix Culpa theodicy appears on only two pages of 'Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism' (2011), it is of pivotal importance for the book as a whole. Plantinga argues that there is superficial conflict but deep concord between science and monotheism, and that there is superficial concord but deep conflict between science and naturalism. I contend that the weakness of the Felix Culpa theodicy lends support to the view that there is more than superficial conflict between science and monotheism, and offer an alternative response to the challenge of evil which suggests that there might be, after all, concord between science and (religious) naturalism.
Sep-2014	Classical and revisionary theism on the divine as personal: a rapprochement? PeerReviewed To claim that the divine is a person or personal is, according to Richard Swinburne, ‘the most elementary claim of theism’ (1993, 101). I argue that, whether the classical theist’s concept of the divine as a person or personal is construed as an analogy or a metaphor, or a combination of the two, analysis necessitates qualification of that concept such that any differences between the classical theist’s concept of the divine as a person or personal and revisionary interpretations of that concept are merely superficial. Thus, either the classical theist has more in common with revisionary theism than he/she might care to admit, or classical theism is a multi-faceted position which encompasses interpretations which some might regard as revisionist. This article also explores and employs the use of a gender-neutral pronoun in talk about God.
Jul-2015	Images of reality: Iris Murdoch's five ways from art to religion PeerReviewed Art plays a significant role in Iris Murdoch’s moral philosophy, a major part of which may be interpreted as a proposal for the revision of religious belief. In this paper, I identify within Murdoch’s philosophical writings five distinct but related ways in which great art can assist moral/religious belief and practice: art can reveal to us “the world as we were never able so clearly to see it before”; this revelatory capacity provides us with evidence for the existence of the Good, a metaphor for a transcendent reality of which God was also a symbol; art is a “hall of reflection” in which “everything under the sun can be examined and considered”; art provides us with an analogue for the way in which we should try to perceive our world; and art enables us to transcend our selfish concerns. I consider three possible objections: that Murdoch’s theory is not applicable to all forms of art; that the meaning of works of art is often ambiguous; and that there is disagreement about what constitutes a great work of art. I argue that none of these objections are decisive, and that all forms of art have at least the potential to furnish us with important tools for developing the insight required to live a moral/religious life.
Jan-2017	'What does philosophy of religion offer to the modern university?' PeerReviewed
Nov-2018	How to prove the existence of God: an argument for conjoined panentheism PeerReviewed This article offers an argument for a form of panentheism in which the divine is conceived as both ‘God the World’ and ‘God the Good’. ‘God the World’ captures the notion that the totality of everything which exists is ‘in’ God, while acknowledging that, given evil and suffering, not everything is ‘of’ God. ‘God the Good’ encompasses the idea that God is also the universal concept of Goodness, akin to Plato’s Form of the Good as developed by Iris Murdoch, which is inextricably conjoined with God the World because it is the nature of the world which determines the nature of perfect Goodness. This form of ‘conjoined’ panentheism yields a concept of divine personhood which includes both divine agency and human/divine engagement. God the Good is an agent of change by providing human persons with a standard of Goodness against which to measure the goodness of their own actions, while God the World provides the physical embodiment through which God acts. Human engagement with the divine may take a number of forms and may lead to moral action, the means by which the divine acts upon the world and changes it for the better.

Publications available on SAS-space

Additional Publications

Research Projects & Supervisions

Available for doctoral supervision: Yes

Relevant Events

Other editing/publishing activities:

Date	Details
2019	Philosophy, Religion and Hope Guest editor of special issue of the European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, June 2019

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