A History of the Concept of God
A Process Approach
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A history of the concept of God through the lens of process thought.
Description
Daniel A. Dombrowski explores the history of the concept of God from the perspective of neoclassical, or process, theism. His neoclassical approach assuages the current crisis in philosophical theism, caught between a defense of classical theism and assertions of religious skepticism. Instead, the work offers Charles Hartshorne's notion of a God who always evolves, quite unlike the allegedly perfect figure of more traditional, and increasingly unsatisfactory, accounts. Dombrowski surveys the classical theists and their roots in ancient Greek philosophy before turning to contributions from the sixteenth through twentieth centuries, ultimately discussing twenty-three thinkers. The key figures in this history are Plato, who ironically provided the philosophical basis both for classical and neoclassical concepts, and three great figures in process theism: Henri Bergson, Alfred North Whitehead, and Hartshorne. The concept of God has a rich past; this book argues that it can have a rich future as well.
Daniel A. Dombrowski is Professor of Philosophy at Seattle University. He is the author of many books, including Hartshorne and the Metaphysics of Animal Rights; Rawls and Religion: The Case for Political Liberalism; and A Platonic Philosophy of Religion: A Process Perspective, all published by SUNY Press.
Reviews
"…a fascinating book." — Reading Religion