Home > History & Humanities > History > History: theory & methods > The Maker and the Material: God and the Material Cause
21%
The Maker and the Material: God and the Material Cause

The Maker and the Material: God and the Material Cause

          
5
4
3
2
1

Out of Stock


Premium quality
Premium quality
Bookswagon upholds the quality by delivering untarnished books. Quality, services and satisfaction are everything for us!
Easy Return
Easy return
Not satisfied with this product! Keep it in original condition and packaging to avail easy return policy.
Certified product
Certified product
First impression is the last impression! Address the book’s certification page, ISBN, publisher’s name, copyright page and print quality.
Secure Checkout
Secure checkout
Security at its finest! Login, browse, purchase and pay, every step is safe and secured.
Money back guarantee
Money-back guarantee:
It’s all about customers! For any kind of bad experience with the product, get your actual amount back after returning the product.
On time delivery
On-time delivery
At your doorstep on time! Get this book delivered without any delay.
Notify me when this book is in stock
Add to Wishlist

About the Book

The five chapters of this book discuss a number of possibilities about the "relation" between the cosmos and God. This may seem abstract, but the way we think about the world has important implications for the way we treat it. Chapter 1 surveys the philosophical world of the ancient Greeks in order to examine the different ways that early Greek philosophers understood the relation between the cosmos and its Divine Source. From among them, I single out Plato's depiction of God as a Divine Artisan who made the world out of pre-existing matter. In chapter 2, I discuss a conception of the relation between the world and God that is different to anything envisaged by the classical Greeks. This is the idea that God created the world from nothing (creatio ex nihilo). This idea has remained part of the Western intellectual background over the course of many centuries and it has provided the dominant creation paradigm for Western civilization. Chapter 3 offers another perspective, one which can be found across cultures in East and West. This is the idea that the world is an emanation from the Divine (creatio ex divino). I discuss this specifically in the context of the philosophy of Plotinus.

We thus have three different ways to explain the "relation" between the cosmos and its Creator: Plato's idea of God as a Divine Artisan, the idea that God created the world from sheer nothing, and the idea of the world as an emanation from God. Chapter 4 begins with a discussion about the Argument from Design, as presented by David Hume, the eighteenth century Scottish philosopher. I concur with his conclusion that while the legitimate scope of the Argument from Design is very limited, when correctly formulated it is nonetheless a persuasive argument for the existence of a cosmic Intelligence that we might call God. Given that it is reasonable to think of the cosmos as having an Intelligent cause, we may inquire as to what is the relation between the cosmos and such an Intelligent cause. This leads to a comparison between the three possibilities we have already discussed. I first compare Plato's portrayal of God as a divine Artisan with the Biblically inspired doctrine of "creation from nothing" and find in favour of the latter, because it solves the problems raised in Plato's account. I next compare "creation from nothing" with the idea, taught by the Neoplatonists, but also found in the Upanishads, that the world is an "emanation from the Divine". My argument is that the concept of the world as a "divine emanation" is a viable possibility with a number of advantages over the idea that the world is a creation "from nothing". My proposal is that our understanding of God should be widened to include the idea that God is the intelligent cause of the cosmos and is its material cause as well. In other words, the Maker is also the material.

The idea of the world as an emanation of God is not without some philosophical challenges, which I try to address. Its chief benefit, which I discuss in chapter 5, is that the idea of the world as God manifest as form recovers the lost immanence of God and it restores the conception, common to many ancient cultures, of the world as a sacred place.


Best Sellers



Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781925666823
  • Publisher: Moshpit Publishing
  • Publisher Imprint: Moshpit Publishing
  • Height: 203 mm
  • No of Pages: 192
  • Spine Width: 10 mm
  • Width: 127 mm
  • ISBN-10: 1925666824
  • Publisher Date: 21 Sep 2017
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: N
  • Weight: 195 gr


Similar Products

How would you rate your experience shopping for books on Bookswagon?

Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS           
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
The Maker and the Material: God and the Material Cause
Moshpit Publishing -
The Maker and the Material: God and the Material Cause
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

The Maker and the Material: God and the Material Cause

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book
    Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Bookswagon (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Bookswagon, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Bookswagon (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Bookswagon a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Bookswagon may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Bookswagon's sole discretion. Bookswagon reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Bookswagon's website that Bookswagon deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Bookswagon does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Bookswagon to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Bookswagon reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Bookswagon, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Bookswagon, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept

    New Arrivals



    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!