Ep. #81 – Natural Theology Seminar (part 2) w/ Dr. Koons
Summary
What are some of the best arguments for God’s existence? Dr. Robert Koons just taught an entire graduate seminar on natural theology and joins us for the recap. In this episode, we discuss cosmological arguments, Augustinian-style arguments, and epistemological arguments. Along the way, I press Dr. Koons with various objections, and he gives some great replies.
Guest Bio
Dr. Robert Koons has earned degrees at Michigan State, Oxford, and UCLA. He’s taught at UT-Austin for 31 years. And he’s authored or edited six books, including his recent book The Atlas of Reality: A Guide to Metaphysics (with Tim Pickavance). And he also contributed an excellent chapter to the recent work Faith and Reason: Philosophers Explain Their Turn to Catholicism. You can find out more about his work, including many published papers over at www.robkoons.net
Show Outline
In the first segment, Dr. Koons gives an overview of the seminar and arguments discussed. We look into the Kalam argument in detail along with the grim reaper paradox.
In the next segment, we consider non-Kalam style cosmological arguments and the key premises. Dr. Koons also explains an Augustinian-style argument for a necessary mind, drawing on some work by Trenton Merricks.
In the final segment, we look at epistemological arguments. Dr. Koons explains whether he would like to teach the class again in the future.
Resources Mentioned
The Grim Reaper to the Kalam Argument by Dr. Koons (paper)
Infinity, Causation, and Paradox by Alexander R. Pruss
Two Dozen (or so) Arguments for God: The Plantinga Projects (Dr. Koons has a chapter-long essay in this book)
Dr. Koons appearance on the Capturing Christianity Youtube Channel
Propositions by Trenton Merricks
Alexander Pruss’ Wilde Lecture where he Discusses Grim Reapers
Related Episodes
Ep. #60 – A Natural Theology Seminar w/ Dr. Koons
Ep. #32 – An Interview with Dr. Edward Feser
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