On Metaphysical Necessity: Essays on God, the World, Morality, and Democracy

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Emphasizes the importance of metaphysical necessity to both philosophical theology and, through it, to moral and political theory. In this collection of essays, Franklin I. Gamwell offers a defense of transcendental metaphysics, especially in its neoclassical form, and builds a case for its importance as a tool for addressing abiding problems in philosophical theology and morality―including talk about God, human fault, moral decision, and the relationship of politics and religious freedom. In Part I, Gamwell argues against Kant and a wide range of contemporary philosophers, for the validity of transcendental metaphysics designated in the strict sense. He engages with Aquinas, Schleiermacher, Augustine, and Reinhold Niebuhr to argue that neoclassical metaphysics, for which the divine whole is itself temporal or forever self-surpassing, provides a more coherent account of God than does classical metaphysics, for which the divine whole is completely eternal. In Part II, Gamwell looks at transcendental metaphysics designated in the broad sense. In particular, he takes up the moral opportunity with which humans are presented, and argues that the moral law depends on a comprehensive good, that is, a good defined metaphysically in the strict sense. He then offers an extended discussion of the relation between transcendental metaphysics and morality, and explores Ronald Dworkin’s view of the relationship between democracy and religion, the question of whether religious activities are properly exempted from generally applicable laws, and the constitutional debate about national and states’ rights. Contents Introduction: On Transcendental Metaphysics Metaphysics Transcendental The Following Chapters Part One: God and the World: Metaphysics in the Strict Sense 1 A Defense of Metaphysical Necessity Recent Thinkers The Pragmatic Self-Refutation Recent Thinkers Revisited Metaphysical Necessity 2 Speaking of God After Aquinas A Reading of Aquinas Analogical and Purely Equivocal Names Theistic Arguments Burrell’s Alternative The Principle of Prior Actuality 3 Schleiermacher and Transcendental Philosophy Schleiermacher’s Introduction to Dogmatics An Assessment of Schleiermacher’s Achievement 4 The Source of Temptation Augustine: Through Adam to the Devil Reinhold Niebuhr: Sin Posits Itself Another Account: Human Fragmentariness Conclusion Part Two: Morality and Democracy: Metaphysics in the Broad Sense 5 Moral Creatures and their Decisions Neoclassical Metaphysics in the Strict Sense Moral Understanding The Strictly Metaphysical Definition of Good Moral Creatures as Subjects The Transcendental Moral Principles 6 On the Interpretation of Religious Freedom: A Conversation with Ronald Dworkin Dworkin’s Interpretation Dworkin’s Interpretation: A Critique Toward an Alternative Interpretation 7 On Religious Freedom and its Free Exercise Recent Theories Politics by the Way of Reason Free Exercise Exemptions Convictions and Confessions 8 The Revolution’s Promise Popular Sovereignty The States’ Rights View The National View Consequences of the Revolution Notes Works Cited Index