Logic and Theism: Arguments For and Against Beliefs in God

This is a wide-ranging book about arguments for and against beliefs in God. The arguments for the belief are analysed in the first six chapters and include ontological arguments from Anselm to Gödel, the cosmological arguments of Aquinas and Leibniz, and arguments from evidence for design and miracles. The next two chapters consider arguments against belief. The last chapter examines Pascalian arguments for and against belief in God. There are discussions of Cantorian problems for omniscience, of challenges to divine omnipotence, and of the compatibility of everlasting complete knowledge of the world with free-will. There are appendices that present formal proofs in a system for quantified modal logic, a theory of possible worlds, notes on Cantorian set theory, and remarks concerning non-standard hyperreal numbers. This book will be a valuable resource for philosophers of religion and theologians and will interest logicians and mathematicians as well.

• Topic is good one for us - we did very well with Gale’s book and Oppy\'s has performed soundly • In some ways this is the successor to Gale’s book and direct competitor of the Mackie book mentioned above • Sobel is well known and internationally respected decision theorist

Part I. Divinity: 1. ‘GOD’ and ‘god’, and God; Part II. Arguments for the Existence of God: 2. Classical ontological arguments; 3. Modern modal ontological arguments; 4. Kurt Gödel\'s ontologischer beweis; 5. First causes: the second way; 6. Ultimate reasons: Proofs of a contingentia mundi; 7. Look ‘round’; 8. Clouds of witnesses - on ‘of miracles’; Part III. On Parts of the Common Conception of Traditional Theology: 9. Romancing the stone; 10. God knows (go figure); Part IV. Arguments Against the Existence of God: 11. Atheologies, demonstrative and empirical; 12. The logical problem of evil; Part V. Practical Arguments For and Against Theistic Beliefs: 13. Pascalian wagers.

‘… filled with new, interesting, and insightful observations and analyses … a book everyone interested in philosophy of religion will want - and need - to read.’

– Graham Oppy, Monash University

‘I’m often asked to recommend books on philosophy of religion from a skeptical point of view, and Mackie’s The Miracle of Theism has been the only thing I could wholeheartedly endorse. Sobel’s book would give me a second option. It’s the best thing of its kind since Mackie’s book, and in many respects, it’s better than The Miracle of Theism.’

– Robert C. Koons, University of Texas, Austin