Creation, Evolution And Meaning (Transcending Boundaries in Philosophy and Theology)

Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Introduction......Page 12
PART I: MEANING AND CREATION......Page 16
Section 1: Meaningful Communication, a Meaningful Life and Theories of Meaning......Page 18
Section 2: The Verificationist Challenge......Page 20
Section 3: Some Implications of Verificationism for Religious Language......Page 24
Section 4: Ayer’s Subsequent Stances......Page 27
Section 5: Some Objections to Verificationism......Page 30
Section 6: Creation and Analogy......Page 35
Section 1: Realism and the Roots of Anti-realism......Page 40
Section 2: Dummett’s Anti-realist Arguments......Page 42
Section 3: Further Arguments for and against Anti-realism......Page 47
Section 4: Rorty’s Anti-realism......Page 51
Section 5: Cupitt’s Anti-realist Faith......Page 53
Section 6: Phillips’s Religious Projectionism......Page 56
Section 1: Popper, Duhem and Quine......Page 62
Section 2: The Falsification Controversy......Page 64
Section 3: Creation and Falsification......Page 67
Section 4: Falsification, Religion and Explanations......Page 70
Section 5: Findings So Far about Creation......Page 72
PART II: CREATION AND EVOLUTION......Page 76
Section 1: Some Alternative Conceptions......Page 78
Section 2: Transcendence......Page 80
Section 3: Creation, Necessity and Contingency......Page 84
Section 4: Creation and Time......Page 87
Section 5: Creation without Creationism?......Page 91
Section 6: Darwin on Creation......Page 95
Section 1: From World to God......Page 100
Section 2: The Cosmological Argument......Page 104
Section 3: Varieties of Design Argument......Page 108
Section 4: Hume’s Critique of the Design Argument......Page 112
Section 5: Fine Tuning, Universes and Probability......Page 117
Section 1: Darwinism......Page 120
Section 2: Darwinism, Theism and Gould......Page 126
Section 3: Darwinism, Theism and Ruse......Page 129
Section 4: Disvalues in Nature......Page 132
Section 5: Nature and Immorality......Page 136
Section 1: Are Theism and Evil Compatible?......Page 144
Section 2: Atrocities......Page 147
Section 3: Natural Evil......Page 150
Section 4: Dawkins on Predation......Page 154
Section 5: Could Things be Otherwise?......Page 158
Section 1: Ward’s Value Argument......Page 162
Section 2: Intrinsic Value......Page 165
Section 3: The Argument from Intrinsic Value Revisited......Page 169
Section 4: The Argument from Value to Progressivism Reconsidered......Page 173
Section 5: Purpose, Immanence and Panentheism......Page 177
PART III: EVOLUTION AND MEANING......Page 184
Section 2: Meaning, Value and Meaningful Action......Page 186
Section 3: The Evolution of Design, Intelligence and Meaning – Dennett’s Tower......Page 189
Section 4: Some Criticisms of Dennett’s Tower......Page 192
Section 5: Meaningful Action, Meaningful Work and a Meaningful Life......Page 197
Section 6: Darwinism and Meaningful Life......Page 200
Section 7: Stewardship......Page 202
Section 2: Ethics: Scope, Method and Content......Page 208
Section 3: On the Metaphysics of Stewardship......Page 212
Section 4: Givenness, Metaphysics and Stewardship......Page 214
Section 5: Creation, Evolution and Meaning......Page 217
Bibliography......Page 222
C......Page 240
F......Page 241
L......Page 242
P......Page 243
S......Page 244
W......Page 245