Paradise Understood

New Philosophical Essays about Heaven

Edited by T. Ryan Byerly and Eric J. Silverman

Investigates heaven as conceived within theistic religious traditions such as Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Addresses an unparalleled variety of topics about life in paradise from a philosophical perspective
Fills a significant gap in current literature within philosophy of religion and philosophical theology
An indispensable research tool for those applying philosophical methodologies to questions about heaven

Paradise Understood

New Philosophical Essays about Heaven

Edited by T. Ryan Byerly and Eric J. Silverman

Description

Paradise Understood: New Philosophical Essays about Heaven systematically investigates heaven, or paradise, as conceived within theistic religious traditions such as Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It considers a variety of topics concerning what life in paradise would, could, or will be like for human persons. The collection offers novel approaches to questions about heaven of perennial philosophical interest, and breaks new ground by expanding the range of questions about heaven that philosophers have considered.

The contributors wrestle with questions about human life in paradise that span the spectrum of the major subfields of philosophical enquiry. By employing both historical and contemporary philosophical resources, the volume makes a pioneering contribution toward answering pressing questions about human life in paradise. It will serve as a platform for future research, reinvigorating philosophical investigation into these neglected topics within philosophy of religion.

Paradise Understood

New Philosophical Essays about Heaven

Edited by T. Ryan Byerly and Eric J. Silverman

List of Contributors
Introduction, T. Ryan Byerly and Eric J. Silverman
Part I: The Basic Nature of Paradise
1:Conceiving Heaven as a Dynamic Rather than Static Existence, Eric J. Silverman
2:Anselmian Mediations on Heaven, Katherin Rogers
Part II: The Epistemology of Paradise
3:Will there be Skeptics in Heaven?, Ted Poston
4:The Cognitive Dimension of Heavenly Bliss, Jonathan L. Kvanvig
Part III: Virtue in Paradise
5:The Virtues in Heaven, Rachel Lu
6:Paradise and Growing in Virtue, Timothy Pawl and Kevin Timpe
Part IV: Paradise and Responding to Evil
7:Heavenly Sadness: On the Value of Negative Emotions in Paradise, Adam C. Pelser
8:Virtues of Repair in Paradise, T. Ryan Byerly
Part V: The Social and Political Philosophy of Paradise
9:In Defense of Animal Universalism, Shawn Graves, Blake Hereth, and Tyler M. John
10:Personhood, Embodiment, and Survival: Speculations on Life after (Biological) Death, Robert Audi
Part VI: Resurrection in Paradise
11:Composition and the Will of God: Reconsidering Resurrection by Reassembly, Eric T. Yang and Stephen T. Davis
12:Some Advantages for a Thomistic Solution to the Problem of Personal Identity Beyond Death, Christopher M. Brown
13:The Resurrection and Hypertime, Hud Hudson
Part VII: Freedom in Paradise
14:Resting on Your Laurels: Deserting Desert in Paradise?, Briane P. Boeninger and Robert Garcia
15:The Possibility and Scope of Significant Heavenly Freedom, Richard Tamburro
VIII: The Desirability of Paradise
16:Hume, Happiness, Heaven, and Home, Jerry L. Walls
17:Why the Life of Heaven is Supremely Worth Living, Richard Swinburne

Paradise Understood

New Philosophical Essays about Heaven

Edited by T. Ryan Byerly and Eric J. Silverman

Author Information

Edited by T. Ryan Byerly, University of Sheffield, and Eric J. Silverman, Assistant Professor, Christopher Newport University

T. Ryan Byerly is a Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Sheffield. His primary research interests are in Philosophy of Religion, Epistemology, and Virtue Ethics. He is the author of The Mechanics of Divine Foreknowledge and Providence: A Time-Ordering Account (Bloomsbury, 2014).

Eric J. Silverman is an Assistant Professor at Christopher Newport University. His research interests include Medieval philosophy, ethics, philosophy of religion, history of philosophy, and popular culture and philosophy.

Contributors:

T. Ryan Byerly and Eric J. Silverman
Katherin Rogers
Eric J. Silverman
Ted Poston
Jonathan L. Kvanvig
Rachel Lu
Timothy Pawl and Kevin Timpe
Adam Pelser
T. Ryan Byerly
Shawn Graves, Blake Hereth, and Tyler John
Robert Audi
Eric T. Yang and Stephen T. Davis
Christopher Brown
Hud Hudson
Brian Boeninger and Robert Garcia
Richard Tamburro
Jerry Walls
Richard Swinburne

Paradise Understood

New Philosophical Essays about Heaven

Edited by T. Ryan Byerly and Eric J. Silverman

Reviews and Awards

"T. Ryan Byerly and Eric J. Silverman have edited an impressive collection of 17 new essays dealing with these and other problems related to the possibility and desirability of Heavenly existence, its presuppositions, and its implications...All of the essays are of the highest standard of analytic theology, and I can only recommend the book to anyone interested in one of the most important themes of theological reflection concerning the Christian hope for the world to come." - Benedikt Paul Göcke, Reading Religion

"The contributions to this volume should provide rewarding food for thought about a wide range of issues, to theists and non-theists alike." - Evan Fales, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews