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76 results

Page 1 of 4

  • Is the cosmological argument intuitive?

  • Shaun Nichols, Justin Steinberg
  • Journal:
    Religious Studies , First View
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    10 February 2025, pp. 1-23
    • Article
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  • The cosmological argument for the existence of God seems to have significant intuitive resonance. According to a familiar version of the cosmological argument, there must be some explanation for why the universe exists, and God provides the explanation. This argument seems to depend on the Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR), according to which, if something exists, there must be an explanation for why it exists. As we detail, recent evidence indicates that people presuppose something like the PSR in their explanatory outlook. However, the other key part of the cosmological argument is that God is supposed to be self-explanatory – God’s existence is necessary. We examine this empirically and find that people do not generally think that the existence of God is necessary in the sense relevant for the cosmological argument.

The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
  • Edited by Karolina Hübner, Justin Steinberg
  • Published online:
    09 January 2025
    Print publication:
    12 December 2024
  • Baruch Spinoza is one of the most important and original thinkers of the modern period. His work inspired religious free-thinkers and political radicals, French Enlightenment philosophes, German Idealists, Russian Marxists, writers, and scientists. The Lexicon is a comprehensive compendium of entries on Spinoza's own concepts and associated historical figures. It cuts through the daunting profusion of Spinoza scholarship by supplying compact entries that contextualize Spinoza's thought, elucidate crucial concepts, and point the way to the relevant scholarly debates and studies. With entries by established and emerging scholars from North America, Australasia, and Europe, this is not only the most comprehensive and up-to-date picture of Spinoza scholarship, but also the most international and most diverse. It is a vital resource for novices and experts alike seeking to expand their knowledge of Spinoza.

  • 181. - Theological-Political Treatise

  • from T
  • Edited by Karolina Hübner, Cornell University, New York, Justin Steinberg, Cornell University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Spinoza Lexicon
    Published online:
    09 January 2025
    Print publication:
    12 December 2024, pp 527-532

  • Summary

    In the mid-1660s Spinoza began to compose the TTP, an ambitious work combining scriptural interpretation and political theory that would ignite a firestorm of criticism in Spinoza’s lifetime. In a 1665 letter to Henry Oldenburg, Spinoza presents the three primary reasons for writing the work: to oppose the prejudices of theologians; to rebut the charge of atheism; and, to defend the freedom of philosophizing (Ep30). The TTP was ultimately published anonymously and with a false imprint in 1670, perhaps occasioned in part by the imprisonment on charges of blasphemy and subsequent death (presumed to be due partially to the conditions of his captivity) of Spinoza’s friend Adriaan Koerbagh. Among the central claims of this multifaceted text are: Scripture is fundamentally a collection of simple moral teachings for ordinary people, rather than a source of insight into God’s nature and operations; philosophy and faith aim at different things, namely truth and obedience respectively; the sovereign maintains complete right over the external practice of religion; and that the peace and piety of a state can be preserved only if the freedom to philosophize is granted.

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