Klaas J. Kraay - Does God Matter? Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism

The collection of essays in this volume make a major contribution to a much-neglected issue in philosophical theologythe issue of the value of Gods existence. It is of course a central question, but largely unexplored in the literature. The range of associated issues in the theory of value, metaethics, modal metaphysics, conceptions of God, and rational choice will interest a wide audience of scholars.

Michael J. Almeida, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA

The question of whether God exists has long preoccupied philosophers. Many accounts of God have been proposed, and many arguments for and against Gods existence have been offered and discussed. But while philosophers have been busy trying to determine whether or not God exists, they have generally neglected to ask this question: Does it matter whether God exists?

Does God Matter? features eleven original essays written by prominent philosophers of religion that address this very important, yet surprisingly neglected, question. One natural way to approach this question is to seek to understand what difference Gods existence wouldor doesmake to the value of the world and the well-being of its inhabitants. The first essay sets the stage for the discussion of this topic. The three essays in Section I defend versions of pro-theism: the view that Gods existence wouldor doesmake things better than they would otherwise be. The four essays in Section II defend anti-theism: the view that Gods existence wouldor doesmake things worse than they would otherwise be. The three essays in Section III consider the interplay between the existential and axiological debates concerning the existence of God. This book presents important research on a growing topic in philosophy of religion that will also be of keen interest to scholars working in other areas of philosophy (such as metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory), and in other disciplines (such as religious studies and analytic theology).

Klaas J. Kraay is Professor of Philosophy at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. He is the editor of God and the Multiverse: Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives (Routledge 2015).

For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com

10God and the Multiverse

Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives

Edited by Klaas J. Kraay

11Christian Ethics and Commonsense Morality

An Intuitionist Account

Kevin Jung

12Philosophical Approaches to the Devil

Edited by Benjamin W. McCraw and Robert Arp

13Galileo and the Conflict between Religion and Science

Gregory W. Dawes

14The Arguments of Aquinas

A Philosophical View

J. J. MacIntosh

15Philosophical Approaches to Demonology

Edited by Benjamin W. McCraw and Robert Arp

16Eighteenth-Century Dissent and Cambridge Platonism

Reconceiving the Philosophy of Religion

Louise Hickman

17Systematic Atheology

Atheisms Reasoning with Theology

John R. Shook

18Does God Matter?

Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism

Edited by Klaas J. Kraay

Edited by Klaas J. Kraay

First published 2018
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kraay, Klaas J., 1975 editor.

Title: Does God matter? : essays on the axiological consequences of theism / edited by Klaas J. Kraay.

Description: 1 [edition]. | New York : Routledge, 2017. | Series: Routledge studies in the philosophy of religion ; 18 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017044431 | ISBN 9780415793513 (hardback : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Theism. | God.

Classification: LCC BL200 .D55 2017 | DDC 211dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017044431

ISBN: 978-0-415-79351-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-21099-5 (ebk)

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