"First published 1957 " Campion Collection.

In a time when more and more people are discovering they can have a rational morality without an orthodox God, these twenty-four essays reappraise the whole character of Christian ethics and criticize the traditional underpinning of morality by religion. Edited by Ian T. Ramsey, professor of philosophy at Oxford University, the volume is a valuable sequel to the well-known New Essays in Philosophical Theology. The contributors include atheists, agnostics, and Christians. Among them are Ninian Smart, R. B. Braithwaite, Ronald Hepburn, (...) and Iris Murdoch. The essays do not attempt to examine specific Christian questions in any sort of theological detail; rather, their primary concern is with problems that arise principally in a philosophical context. But they are concerned with issues that lie behind the present bewilderment in Christian morality. Stressing the diversity of moral situations, the papers show that these are far from being homogeneous and rule-determined. Moral decision demands personal involvement, activating the possibility of good and bad reasons for making such a decision. The essays point out the character of moral disagreements and also remind us that morality is not only of individual but also of social significance. The last section of the book examines the present concept of natural law; its possible erosion by developments in anthropology, psychology, and philosophy; and whether the possibility exists for a theory of morality that unites both natural-law theory and Christian ethics. Ian T. Ramsey (1915 - 1972) was former Bishop of Durham, County Durham, England, and also served as Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at Oxford University, He was also the author of Religious Language, Models for Divine Activity, and Words About God. (shrink)

With Discourse of Miracles and part of A Third Letter Concerning Toleration.

Ian Ramsey; VII*—Facts and Disclosures, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 72, Issue 1, 1 June 1972, Pages 115–134, https://doi.org/10.1093/aristot.

Ian Ramsey; VII*—Facts and Disclosures, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 72, Issue 1, 1 June 1972, Pages 115–134, https://doi.org/10.1093/aristot.

I am not so insular and I hope not so presumptuous as to suppose that there is no contemporary philosophy apart from that empiricism which dominates very much of Great Britain, North America and Scandinavia. So let us notice that contemporary philosophy embraces broadly three points of view, though it will be part of my argument that they largely combine in the lessons they have to teach us, and in many of their implications for theology.

In this paper I would like to consider Hell as a concept around which there cluster various different difficulties, and to see how and on what conditions some of these difficulties could be overcome, the whole paper illustrating, albeit by reference to a particular topic, and so with obvious restrictions, the character of theological argument, the nature of theological assertions, and the kind of empirical grounding that must be given to them.

In this paper I would like to consider Hell as a concept around which there cluster various different difficulties, and to see how and on what conditions some of these difficulties could be overcome, the whole paper illustrating, albeit by reference to a particular topic, and so with obvious restrictions, the character of theological argument, the nature of theological assertions, and the kind of empirical grounding that must be given to them.

In this essay collection, leading physicists, philosophers, and historians attempt to fill the empty theoretical ground in the foundations of information and address the related question of the limits to our knowledge of the world. Over recent decades, our practical approach to information and its exploitation has radically outpaced our theoretical understanding - to such a degree that reflection on the foundations may seem futile. But it is exactly fields such as quantum information, which are shifting the boundaries of the (...) physically possible, that make a foundational understanding of information increasingly important. One of the recurring themes of the book is the claim by Eddington and Wheeler that information involves interaction and putting agents or observers centre stage. Thus, physical reality, in their view, is shaped by the questions we choose to put to it and is built up from the information residing at its core. This is the root of Wheeler's famous phrase "it from bit." After reading the stimulating essays collected in this volume, readers will be in a good position to decide whether they agree with this view. (shrink)