Publisher Description

The articles in the present collection deal with the religious dimension of the problem of free will. All of the papers also have implications for broader philosophical and theological issues, and will thus be of interest to a wide variety of scholars, both religious and secular. Together they provide a historical and contemporary overview of problems in the theology of freedom, together with recent work by some important philosophers in the field aimed at resolving those problems. The chapters are divided into four sections. The first addresses central issues about the nature of free will and how free will relates to theological topics such as theological fatalism and the problem of evil. The second section focuses on historical debates about free will and theism, but with an eye toward how those historical discussions can be brought into discussion with contemporary debates. The third section aims to address and understand divine freedom, while the final section explores implications of the doctrine of divine omnicausality.

Author Biography

Hugh J. McCann taught in the philosophy department at Texas A&M University since 1968; he retired as Professor Emeritus of Philosophy in 2014. He was the author of The Works of Agency, and Creation and the Sovereignty of God, and more than 50 articles and encyclopedia entries on action theory, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and philosophy of art.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Introduction

Part I. Central Issues
1. The Problem of Fr** W*ll Peter van Inwagen
2. Theological Fatalism as an Aporetic Problem David Hunt
3. Responsibility and Freedom Hugh J. McCann
4. Compatibilism and the Free Will Defense Michael Almeida

Part II. Historical Aspects
5. The Indicative in the Imperative: on Augustinian Oughts and Cans Jesse Couenhoven
6. Anselmian Alternatives and Frankfurt style Counterexamples Katherin Rogers
7. Libertarian Calvinism Oliver D. Crisp

Part III. Divine Freedom
8. The Best Thing in Life Is Free: The Compatibility of God's Freedom and his Essential Moral Perfection Kevin Timpe
9. Two Pictures of Divine Choice Brian Leftow

Part IV. Divine Omnicausality and Responsibility
10. Divine Universal Causality Without Occasionalism (and with Agent causation) W. Matthews Grant
11. Theological Determinism and the Relationship with God Derk Pereboom

Index

Long Description

The articles in the present collection deal with the religious dimension of the problem of free will. All of the papers also have implications for broader philosophical and theological issues, and will thus be of interest to a wide variety of scholars, both religious and secular. Together they provide a historical and contemporary overview of problems in the theology of freedom, together with recent work by some important philosophers in the field aimed at resolving
those problems. The chapters are divided into four sections. The first addresses central issues about the nature of free will and how free will relates to theological topics such as theological
fatalism and the problem of evil. The second section focuses on historical debates about free will and theism, but with an eye toward how those historical discussions can be brought into discussion with contemporary debates. The third section aims to address and understand divine freedom, while the final section explores implications of the doctrine of divine omnicausality.

Feature

Selling point: Brings together issues in religion and the metaphysics of free will
Selling point: Features new essays by a team of leading scholars
Selling point: Provides a historical and contemporary overview of problems in the theology of freedom, together with recent work by some important philosophers in the field aimed at resolving those problems
Selling point: Showcases papers with implications for broader philosophical and theological issues

Details