RELIGIOUS EPISTEMOLOGY: A CONFERENCE FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC AT HEYTHROP COLLEGE

The Royal Institute of Philosophy presents

RELIGIOUS EPISTEMOLOGY:

A CONFERENCE FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC AT HEYTHROP COLLEGE

19th and 20th June 2015

Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W8 5HN (very close to Kensington High St. tube)

Funds for video-recording talks have been provided by The Templeton Foundation.

This is a free, two-day conference aimed at the general public. It makes accessible some of the exciting, cutting edge work recently done in religious epistemology. All speakers are leading figures in the field (two are flying in specially from the States).

Talks will be jargon-light and non-technical, presenting new ideas and insights to help inform and illuminate on-going public debate.

This event will appeal to anyone with an interest in continuing public debates about the rationality of religious belief (particularly post The God Delusion). A-Level students are very welcome to attend. The talks will be of particular interest to teachers, journalists, and other writers with an interest in religion.

This conference is free to attend, but it is likely to be very popular. We recommend you book your place in advance. To book a place on either one or both days contact: email: campus-services@heythrop.ac.uk tel: 020 7795 4194/4163. Some single B&B accommodation is available £60 plus VAT.

Timetable

Friday 19^th June

10.30-11.00  Registration etc.

11.00-11.10 Welcome

11.10-12.10 John Cottingham: Detachment, Rationality, and Evidence

12.15-1.10 Lunch break

1.10-2.10 Trent Dougherty: Divine Hiddenness and The Problem of Evil

2.30-3.30 Duncan Pritchard: Wittgenstein on Faith and Reason

3.50-4.50 Stephen Law: How Might Religious Belief be 'Defeated'?

Saturday 20^th June

10.15-10.30 Registration

10.30-11.30 Justin McBrayer: The Problem of Evil and Skeptical Theism

11.40-12.40 Charity Anderson: Divine Hiddenness: Are Glimpses Enough?

12.40-1.30 Lunch break

1.30-2.30 John Hawthorne: TBA

2.30-2.40 Farewell

(meals are not provided)

The conference will be of particular interest to those interested in the following questions:

·      Should a religious belief be rejected if there is little evidence in its support?

·      Can we just know God exists, or that a particular religion is true, by direct revelation?

·      If God exists, why doesn't he reveal himself more clearly?

·      Is religious language used in such a way that questions about truths, evidence, and so on, are inappropriate?

·      Does the problem of evil pose a significant threat to theism?

·      Might science refute theism?