Michael C. Rea
Michael C. Rea is an analytic philosopher and, since 2017, John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy[1] at the University of Notre Dame. He specializes in metaphysics and philosophy of religion and has competence in epistemology and applied ethics as well.[2] He is currently writing a book on divine hiddenness, in which he appeals to quantifier pluralism and argues that God cannot be quantified over by humans (although God can quantify over Himself). He gave a talk on divine hiddenness in the 2017 Gifford Lectures.[3]
The argument against naturalism
Michael Rea argues that naturalists are not justified in accepting either realism about material objects, or realism about other minds, or materialism.[4] This constitutes a pragmatic case against being a naturalist. These problems can be avoided by the adoption of a supernaturalist research program that "legitimates belief in some sort of supernatural being".[5]
Rea's understanding of naturalism
According to Rea, naturalism is primarily a research program.[6] By a research program he means a particular set of dispositions to "trust certain ways of acquiring information with respect to various topics and to distrust others".[7] The core of naturalism is, therefore, something attitudinal.[8] He argues that research programs "cannot be adopted on the basis of evidence".[9] This claim suggests that the naturalist commitment to science is just a secular faith, no better epistemically than standard religion.[10]
Works
- World Without Design: The Ontological Consequences of Naturalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Clarendon), 2002
- Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (with Michael Murray). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
- Metaphysics: The Basics, London: Routledge (under contract)
Edited works
- Material Constitution: A Reader. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997. ISBN 978-0-8476-8384-0
- Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology, 5th edition (with Louis P. Pojman). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2007. ISBN 978-0-495-09504-0
- Critical Concepts in Philosophy: Metaphysics, 5 vols., London: Routledge, 2008. ISBN 978-0-415-39751-3
- Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology (with Thomas P. Flint). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-928920-2
- Analytic Theology: New Essays in Theological Method (with Oliver D. Crisp). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-920356-7
- Arguing About Metaphysics. New York: Routledge, 2009. ISBN 978-0-415-95825-7
- Philosophical and Theological Essays on the Trinity (with Thomas McCall), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-921621-5
- Oxford Readings in Philosophical Theology, 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-923746-3
- Divine Evil? The Moral Character of the God of Abraham (with Michael Bergmann and Michael Murray). Oxford University Press, under contract. ISBN 978-0-19-957673-9
External links
References
- Dame, Marketing Communications: Web // University of Notre. "Michael Rea named John A. O'Brien Chair of Philosophy // Department of Philosophy // University of Notre Dame". Department of Philosophy. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- http://www.nd.edu/~mrea/
- http://ndsmcobserver.com/2015/09/professors-begin-research-project-transformative-experiences/
- Michael C. Rea, World Without Design: The Ontological Consequences of Naturalism, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 8. Discussed in a Book Review by Andrew Melnyk in Mind, Volume 113, Number 451, July 2004, pp. 575-581.
- World Without Design, p. 213-214. Melnyk 2004, p. 575-576.
- World Without Design, p. 73.
- World Without Design, p. 2.
- Melnyk 2004, p. 576.
- World Without Design, pp. 6-7.
- Melnyk 2004, 577.