Paradise Understood ─ New Philosophical Essays About Heaven

Paradise Understood: New Philosophical Essays about Heaven systematically investigates heaven, or paradise, as conceived within theistic religious traditions such as Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It considers a variety of topics concerning what life in paradise would, could, or will be like for human persons. The collection offers novel approaches to questions about heaven of perennial philosophical interest, and breaks new ground by expanding the range of questions about heaven that philosophers have considered.

The contributors wrestle with questions about human life in paradise that span the spectrum of the major subfields of philosophical enquiry. By employing both historical and contemporary philosophical resources, the volume makes a pioneering contribution toward answering pressing questions about human life in paradise. It will serve as a platform for future research, reinvigorating philosophical investigation into these neglected topics within philosophy of religion.

T. Ryan Byerly is a Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Sheffield. His primary research interests are in Philosophy of Religion, Epistemology, and Virtue Ethics. He is the author of The Mechanics of Divine Foreknowledge and Providence: A Time-Ordering Account (Bloomsbury, 2014).

Eric J. Silverman is an Assistant Professor at Christopher Newport University. His research interests include Medieval philosophy, ethics, philosophy of religion, history of philosophy, and popular culture and philosophy.