First published in 1991, Richard M. Gale's classic book is a response to and critique of new, contemporary arguments for the existence of God from analytical philosophers. Considering concepts including time, free will, personhood, actuality and the objectivity of experience, Gale evaluates the new versions of cosmological, ontological, pragmatic and religious experience arguments that emerged in the late-twentieth century. Presented in a fresh twenty-first-century series livery, and including a specially commissioned preface written by Paul K. Moser, illuminating its enduring importance and relevance to philosophical enquiry, this influential work has been revived for a new generation of readers.
Richard M. Gale is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. He is best-known for his research in the areas of time, negation and non-being, philosophy of religion, William James and John Dewey. He is the editor or author of many books, including The Existence of God (with Alexander Pruss, 2003).
Preface to this edition Paul K. Moser; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. Atheological Arguments: 1. Atheology and the nature of God; 2. The creation - immutability argument; 3. The omniscience - immutability argument; 4. The deductive argument from evil; 5. The argument from world-relative actuality; Part II. Theological Arguments: 6. Ontological arguments; 7. Cosmological arguments; 8. Religious-experience arguments; 9. Pragmatic arguments; Notes; Index.