What is Faith?: Essays in the Philosophy of Religion - Softcover

This work consists of a collection of lectures and papers given by Anthony Kenny in recent years. The first part of the book focuses on one of the most central issues in the philosophy of religion: is belief in God and faith in the divine word rational? Dr Kenny attempts to define the nature of what he calls "the intellectual virtue of reasonable belief which stands between scepticism and credulity". Surveying what has been said on the topic by such major recent writers as Wittgenstein and Platinga, Kenny proceeds to construct his own account of this intellectual virtue, which he then applies to the Christian doctrine of faith, to elucidate whether faith as demanded in the Christian tradition is reasonable belief or vicious credulity. The second part of the book addresses related questions and includes a discussion of whether natural theology - the philosophical study of questions concerning the existence and nature of God - is truly possible or is merely an idle use of senseless language. There is also a treatment of the argument from design in relation to the problem of evil; an examination of John Henry Newman's strengths and shortcomings as an apologist of religious belief; and an essay on Anselm on the conceivability of God.

About the Author Anthony Kenny is President of the British Academy and Warden of Rhodes House, Oxford University. He is also the author of Rationalism, Empiricism, and Idealism, Aquinas, Wyclif, and The God of the Philosophers, all published by Oxford.