Being, Freedom, and Method Themes from the Philosophy of Peter van Inwagen

John Keller presents a set of new essays on ontology, time, freedom, God, and philosophical method. Our understanding of these subjects has been greatly advanced, since the 1970s, by the work of Peter van Inwagen.

The contributions, from some of the most prominent living philosophers, engage with van Inwagen's work and offer new insights in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of philosophy. Van Inwagen himself gives selective responses. In metaphysics, the volume will particularly interest philosophers working on free will, relational vs constituent ontologies, and time travel; in philosophy of religion, notable topics include the ontological argument, the compatibility of theism and evolution, the problem of evil, and the doctrine of atonements. And there are three papers on the hot topic of philosophical success, with responses from van Inwagen.

John A. Keller, Niagara University

John A. Keller attended UC Davis as an undergraduate. He went on to study at the University of Notre Dame, where he wrote his dissertation on the role of paraphrase in philosophy, under the direction of Peter van Inwagen. He currently works primarily on metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language, and is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Niagara University, New York.

Introduction, John A. Keller
Being
1. Theories of Character, Michael Loux
2. A One Category Ontology, L. A. Paul
3. Properties as Parts of Ordinary Objects, Eric T. Olson
4. Time Travel and the Movable Present, Sara Bernstein
Freedom
5. The Degree Argument and the Influence Strategy, Mark Heller
6. Revisiting the Mind Argument, Alicia Finch
7. Symposium on the Fixity of the Past, Neal A. Tognazzini and John Martin Fischer; Wesley H. Holliday
God
8. Defenseless: A Critique of Van Inwagen s Response to the Argument from Evil, Louise Antony
9. The Problem of Evil and Atonement, Eleonore Stump
10. Swing Vote, Frances Howard-Snyder
11. Theism and Allism, Alex Rosenberg
12. The Evolutionary Argument for Atheism, Daniel Howard-Snyder
13. Must Anselm be Interpreted as a Meinongian?, Lynne Rudder Baker
Method
14. Why Isn t There More Progress in Philosophy?, David J. Chalmers
15. Philosophical Individualism, John A. Keller
16. Are There Any Successful Philosophical Arguments?, Thomas Kelly and Sarah McGrath
Afterword
17. Concluding Meditation, Peter van Inwagen