Peter van Inwagen: Materialism, Free Will and God

Description

This book discusses the philosophy of influential contemporary philosopher Peter van Inwagen. Looking at perennial philosophical problems from a modern point of view, Peter van Inwagen’s philosophy masterfully combines positions that have been considered irreconcilable: incompatibilism concerning free will, materialism, organicism, theism and realism concerning fictional entities. As readers will discover, his arguments are witty, surprising and deep. The book includes Peter van Inwagen’s Münster Lecture of 2015 on free will, as well as eleven papers from the Münster colloquium discussing central themes of his philosophy, and a reply to each paper by Peter van Inwagen himself. Introducing his philosophy and relating his work to other contemporary views, this book is of interest to graduate students and professionals in philosophy alike. Front Matter ....Pages i-xi The Problem of Free Will Revisited (Peter van Inwagen)....Pages 1-15 Rational Peer Disagreement upon Sufficient Evidence: Leaving the Track to Truth? (Frieder Bögner, Thomas Meyer, Konstantin Schnieder, Markus Seidel)....Pages 17-39 Ontological Commitments, Ordinary Language and Theory Choice (Julia Friederike Göhner, Lukas Steinbrink)....Pages 41-63 Physical Composition by Bonding (Julian Husmann, Paul M. Näger)....Pages 65-96 Why It Would Not Be Better Not to Believe in Material Artifacts – Even If One Could Get Away With It (Amrei Bahr, Christoph Fischer, Thomas Kater, Nicolas Kleinschmidt)....Pages 97-106 Theoretical Entities of Literary Criticism and Science: What Mrs. Gamp and Electrons Do Not Have in Common (Eva-Maria Jung, François Pellet)....Pages 107-121 Creating Creatures of Fiction: A Fictional Dialogue (Kerstin Gregor, Jan G. Michel, Steffen Neuß)....Pages 123-136 Free Will in an Indeterministic World? (Alfonso Savarino, Annegret Sock)....Pages 137-154 Embracing Life Without Free Will: A Fatalistic Proposal (Monja Reinhart)....Pages 155-166 The Strange Cases of Henry T. and Walter B.: Van Inwagen on Personal Identity, Accountability and Mitigating Circumstances (Andrea Strickmann, Christian Weidemann)....Pages 167-178 Van Inwagen on the Problem of Evil: Is His Defense Story Reasonable? (Benedikt Paul Göcke, Cristina Schneider, Anna Sindermann)....Pages 179-197 Replies (Peter van Inwagen)....Pages 199-268