Reasonable Faith

In this awaited follow up to his book Faithful Reason, the well-known philosopher and Catholic thinker John Haldane brings his unrivalled insight to bear on questions of the existence of God and the nature and destiny of the human soul. His arguments weave elements drawn from philosophy of mind, epistemology and aesthetics, together with recurrent features of human experience to create a structure that simultaneously frames and supports ideas such as that the cosmos is a creation, human beings transcend their material composition, and that human fulfilment lies beyond death. As in many of his other writings this volume blends themes from Aquinas with insights drawn from analytical philosophy and further establishes John Haldane as the leading 'analytical thomist'.

John Haldane is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs in the University of St Andrews, and also a Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute, Princeton. His books include Atheism and Theism 2nd Edition (2003); Faithful Reason (2004), The Church and the World (2008) and Practical Philosophy: Ethics, Society and Culture (2009).

Preface. Acknowledgements Part 1: Reason, Faith and God 1. Introduction: The Prospects for Religious Philosophy 2. A Thomist Metaphysics 3. Metaphysics, Common Sense, and the Existence of God 4. Meditations, Wagers and Existential Issues 5. The Restless Heart: Philosophy and the Meaning of Theism 6. Finding God in Nature: Beauty, Revulsion and Art Part 2: Reason, faith and the soul 7. The Very Idea of Spiritual Values 8. Reason, Truth and Sacred History 9. Rational and Other Animals 10. Aquinas on Ensoulment 11. The Examined Death 12. Philosophy, Death and Immortality 13. Causes, Reasons and Grace. Index