Why Believe?

Description

Why Believe? sees John Cottingham, a philosopher of searing intellectual honesty, examine our society's struggle with the concept of belief. Cottingham's carefully reasoned yet impassioned account shows how the religious outlook connects with our deepest human longings, how it links up with our moral and aesthetic experience, how it is integrally involved in the quest for self understanding, and how it is not after all in conflict with a scientific understanding of the world.

John Cottingham is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Reading and an Honorary Fellow of St John's College, Oxford. His much acclaimed recent titles include Philosophy and the Good Life, On the Meaning of Life and The Spiritual Dimension, and he is also well-known for his extensive writings in the history of philosophy and in ethics. He is President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion, and Editor of the journal Ratio.

Reviewed in the Catholic Herald, 27th August 'Wonderful crowd-dividing meditations' 'The virtues of Cottingham's own thinking - a gracious, open minded integrity, and an ability to combine spiritual insight with philosophical analysis - enrich his defence of Christian practise and belief.' -- Times Literary Supplement 'An important addition to the contemporary study of religion... Cottingham's book is a work of gentle persuasion towards belief and in practice towards belief in Christianity... There is thus in Cottingham's re-enchanting work as much to interest those who study religion as a phenomenon as there is for those who practise it or indeed reject it.' -- Journal of Contemporary Religion 'Rigorously argued yet maximally accessible...a new and exciting perspective on the conflict between secularism and spirituality.' -- Bulletin 'Why Believe? sees John Cottingham, a philosophy of searing intellectual honesty, examine our society's struggle with the concept of belief.' -- Bulletin 'John Cottingham's brief defence of religious faith, and especially Christian faith, is honest, clear-headed and occasionally compelling.' -- Religious Studies "This small volume should most emphatically make anyone's short list." Church Times, November 2009 "For Professor Cottingham, the "characteristic framework" of behaviour that a theist brings to the task of living "finds room for some of our deepest and most valuable human impulses"." Christopher Howse, The Daily Telegraph, 28 November, 2009. "He [Cottingham] always writes with grace and clarity...the best books on apologetics deepen our understanding with fresh insights into what it means to believe. This is one of those books." Paul Richardson, Church of England Newspaper, December 2009. "A spirit of genuine enquiry." John Haldane, The Tablet, December 2009 "Fascinating and accessible reading for anyone with an appetite for philosophy of religion." The Way, April 2010. "Himself a believing philosopher, Cottingham explains how he is able to meld his secular and religious inclinations. Sometimes, he warns, he gets a bit more rhetorical than is considered proper in an academic paper. He covers belief and its benefits; belief, reason, goodness; belief and the unknown; obstacles to belief; belief and meaning; learning to believe; and believing and living." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc. mention in Bookseller Buyers Guide, 1 January 2008 Mention in The Tablet, 30 May 2009 Book Extract The Tablet, September 2009 "A judicious and refreshing addition to a debate that is in danger of going a little stale." Good Book Guide, October 2009