Abrahamic Reflections on Randomness and Providence.
Saved in:
: | |
---|---|
TeilnehmendeR: | |
Place / Publishing House: | Cham : : Springer International Publishing AG,, 2021. ©2022. |
Year of Publication: | 2021 |
Edition: | 1st ed. |
Language: | English |
Online Access: | |
Physical Description: | 1 online resource (381 pages) |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Table of Contents:
- Abrahamic Reflections on Randomness and Providence
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Notes on Contributors
- Part I: Introduction
- Chapter 1: Randomness and Providence: Is God a Bowler or a Curler?
- 1.1 How Does God Do It?
- 1.2 The Bible Tells Me So
- 1.3 Modern Science
- 1.4 Is God a Bowler or a Curler?
- 1.5 Randomness and Providence
- 1.6 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Part II: The Problem(s) Stated
- Chapter 2: The Many Faces of Randomness
- 2.1 No Single Definition
- 2.2 Purpose
- 2.3 Probability and Statistics
- 2.4 Physics
- 2.4.1 Statistical Mechanics
- 2.4.2 Chaos Theory
- 2.4.3 Instability and Singular Points
- 2.4.4 Norton's Dome
- 2.4.5 Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking
- 2.4.6 Quantum Mechanics
- 2.5 Biology
- Bibliography
- Chapter 3: Randomness and Providence: Defining the Problem(s)
- 3.1 Introduction
- 3.2 Ontological Randomness
- 3.2.1 Randomness as Indeterminism
- 3.2.2 Randomness as Purposelessness
- 3.3 Divine Providence
- 3.3.1 Super Meticulous Providence
- 3.3.2 Meticulous Providence
- 3.3.3 General Providence
- 3.4 The Problems
- 3.4.1 Power
- 3.4.2 Knowledge
- 3.4.3 Goodness
- 3.5 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Part III: Science
- Chapter 4: Randomness in the Cosmos
- 4.1 Introduction
- 4.2 What Is Randomness?
- 4.3 Randomness in the Early Universe
- Galaxy Formation
- 4.4 Randomness and Chaos in the Formation of the Solar System
- 4.5 Stability of the Planetary System
- 4.6 Formation of the Moon
- 4.7 Randomness in the Bombardment of the Earth by Meteoroids
- 4.8 Randomness in the Sun's Activity
- 4.9 Randomness, Order in the World, and Divine Providence
- Bibliography
- Chapter 5: Randomness, Providence, and the Multiverse
- 5.1 The Indifferent Universe of Materialism
- 5.2 General and Special Providence
- 5.3 Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life?.
- 5.4 Debates on Fine-Tuning
- 5.5 The Cost of Each Option
- Bibliography
- Chapter 6: Can a Muslim be an Evolutionist?
- 6.1 Religious Authority
- 6.2 Creation: Processive or Instantaneous Creation?
- 6.3 Creation in Six Stages (Days)
- 6.4 Creation of Man from Clay
- 6.5 Human Dignity, Common Ancestry
- 6.6 Nafsi Wahida: Descent from Adam and Eve?
- 6.7 Theological Agnosticism
- 6.8 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Chapter 7: Chance, Evolution, and the Metaphysical Implications of Paleontological Practice
- 7.1 Evolutionary Metanarratives
- 7.2 Chance and Contingency Versus Convergence and Predictability in the History of Life
- 7.2.1 Contingency
- 7.2.2 Convergence
- 7.2.3 Contemporary Coda
- 7.3 Chance and Selection in the Fossil Record: Successful Paleontological Practices
- 7.4 Potential Implications for Divine Providence?
- 7.5 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Part IV: The Abrahamic Faiths
- Chapter 8: Judaism and Providence
- 8.1 The Basics of Judaism
- 8.2 Providence and Randomness
- 8.3 The Question of Providence and Five Answers
- 8.3.1 Answer 1: Particular Providence Over Everything
- 8.3.2 Answer 2: Particular Providence Over People Only
- 8.3.3 Answer 3: Particular Providence Over Righteous People Only
- 8.3.4 Answer 4: Particular Providence in the Land of Israel Only
- 8.3.5 Answer 5: Philosophical Transcendence
- 8.4 An Idealist Interlude
- 8.5 Radical Reductions
- 8.6 Idealism and Providence
- 8.7 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Chapter 9: Randomness and Providence in Christian Thought
- 9.1 Goals and Orientation
- 9.2 Introduction to Christianity
- 9.2.1 The Person of Jesus
- 9.2.2 Early Christianity
- 9.3 Christian Thinking on Divine Providence
- 9.3.1 Providence in Scripture
- 9.3.2 Fathers of the Church on Divine Providence
- 9.4 What About Randomness?
- 9.4.1 Grappling with Preexisting Thought.
- 9.4.2 The Augustinian Model of Providence
- 9.4.3 Enter Aristotelianism
- 9.4.4 Modern Science
- 9.5 A Possible Solution
- Bibliography
- Chapter 10: God, Cosmos, and Humanity: Muslim Perspectives on Divine Providence
- 10.1 What Is Islam? Or Inferring Providence from Scripture
- 10.2 Avicenna: Divine Creative Agency and the Mediation of the Prophet
- 10.3 Mullā Ṣadrā on Providence, Evil, and Love
- 10.4 Concluding Remark
- Bibliography
- Part V: Providence and Chance
- Chapter 11: Reconciling Meticulous Divine Providence with Objective Chance
- 11.1 Introduction
- 11.2 Six Failed Reconciliations
- 11.2.1 Determinism
- 11.2.2 Molinism
- 11.2.3 Thomism
- 11.2.4 Divine Luck
- 11.2.5 Multiverse
- 11.2.6 Peter van Inwagen's Model
- 11.3 Pruss's Solution: A Theistic Version of Lewis's Best-Fit Model
- 11.3.1 Lewis's Best-Fit Model
- 11.3.2 The Explanatory Weakness of Lewis's Chance
- 11.3.3 Saving the Principal Principle
- 11.3.4 Pruss's Reconciliation of Providence and Chance
- 11.4 Some Objections to Pruss's Account
- 11.4.1 The Gambler's Fallacy
- 11.4.2 The Credence/Chance Conceptual Gap
- 11.5 A Divine Command Theory of Rational Credence
- 11.5.1 The Model and Its Advantages
- 11.5.2 Objections
- Bibliography
- Chapter 12: Creatio Continua and Quantum Randomness
- 12.1 Introduction
- 12.2 The Christian Traditions
- 12.2.1 Nicolas Malebranche
- 12.2.2 René Descartes
- 12.2.3 Jonathan Edwards
- 12.3 The Islamic Traditions
- 12.3.1 The Ash'arite Worldview
- 12.3.2 Motivation and Justification
- 12.3.3 Implications
- 12.4 The Common View
- 12.4.1 Conservation Without Determinacy
- 12.4.2 The Equivalence Thesis
- 12.4.3 The Edwards-Ash'arite Thesis
- 12.4.4 The Bottom-Up and the Determinacy Theses
- 12.5 Continuous Creation and Quantum Mechanics
- 12.6 Objections and Replies
- 12.7 Conclusion.
- Bibliography
- Chapter 13: Causality, Indeterminacy, and Providence: Contemporary Islamic Perspectives from Said Nursi and Basil Altaie
- 13.1 Introduction
- 13.2 Said Nursi: Causality, Laws of Nature, and Indeterminacy as Signs of God
- 13.2.1 Nursi's Approach to Natural Causality in the Context of Contemporary Theories of Causation
- 13.2.2 Nursi on Laws of Nature
- 13.3 Quantum Physics Interpreted: Altaie on Laws of Nature, Indeterminism, and Causality
- 13.3.1 Genuine Indeterminacy in Nature
- 13.3.2 Altaie on Laws of Nature
- 13.3.3 Causality: First and Second Level of Analysis
- 13.3.4 Re-creation: An Interpretation of Indeterminism
- 13.4 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Chapter 14: Divine Action and the Emergence of Four Kinds of Randomness
- 14.1 Modes of Divine Action
- 14.2 The Metaphysics of Emergence
- 14.3 The Emergence of Meaning, Intentionality, and Mathematical Knowledge
- 14.4 The Emergence of Phenomenal Qualia
- 14.5 The Emergence of Life
- 14.6 The Emergence of Thermodynamics and Chemistry
- 14.7 Downward Causation in Modern Quantum Theory
- 14.8 Some Theological Reflections
- Bibliography
- Chapter 15: God et al.- World-Making as Collaborative Improvisation: New Metaphors for Open Theists
- 15.1 Introduction
- 15.2 Classical Theism and Its Metaphors
- 15.2.1 The Bird's-Eye View
- 15.2.2 God as Instantaneous Author
- 15.2.3 God: The Lone World-Artist
- 15.2.4 Problems with the Metaphors
- 15.3 Metaphors for Open Theists
- 15.3.1 The Shrinking Tree
- 15.3.2 More Dynamic Metaphors: 'Books-in-Progress' and the 'Growing Block'
- 15.3.3 God as Collaborative Improvisational Director-Participant
- 15.3.3.1 Example 1: Jazz Band Leader
- 15.3.3.2 Example 2: Improv Troupe Director-Participant-Christopher Guest's Model
- 15.4 Salutary Upshots
- 15.5 Conclusion
- Bibliography.
- Chapter 16: Saadia on "what is in the hearts of people when they reach the limits of endurance in a trial"
- Bibliography
- Chapter 17: Randomness, Causation, and Divine Responsibility
- 17.1 Augustinian Approaches to Evil
- 17.2 Zimmerman on Shared Responsibility
- 17.3 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index.