Introducing Philosophy of Religion: A Historical Introduction by Linda Zagzebski

Two books by the contemporary American philosopher Linda Zagzebski (1946– ) have been translated into Persian. The first is the book Epistemology, translated by Kaveh Behbahani, and the second is the book Philosophy of Religion: A Historical Introduction, translated by Shahab al-Din Abbasi. Zagzebski is a virtue epistemologist and incorporates the agent's agency into her theory. She is an advocate of "trustworthiness" in epistemology. In Zagzebski's view, trustworthiness is a prerequisite for having a life, because if we were to view propositions as Clifford does and refrain from believing a statement until we have obtained sufficient evidence, we would be incapable of living. In order to live, we are compelled to trust our experiential faculties, our sensory faculties, and our emotions, and since there is not much difference between us and other human beings, cognitive holism leads us to trust the cognitive and emotional faculties of others as well, unless there are serious conflicts between our cognitive faculties and those of others, in which case, based on our inner desire, we choose one path. It is in this last part that Zagzebski becomes a virtue theorist in the domain of knowledge, because she incorporates the agent's agency into knowledge.

The book Philosophy of Religion: A Historical Introduction is written in ten chapters, each of which covers a part of the topics in the philosophy of religion, such as proofs for the existence of God, the problem of evil, life after death, and the like. Unlike many philosophy of religion books written in the analytic philosophical tradition that deal only with arguments and logical discussions, Ms. Zagzebski has also included the historical background and the contexts in which these discussions arose in her book. Her method is such that she first presents the historical background, sometimes providing examples, and then addresses the most well-known views proposed in that area, critiques them, and explains the objections raised against them. She then presents her own theory and tries to ensure that her theory is free from the previous flaws. In some chapters, especially the last two, "The Problem of Religious Diversity" and "Faith, Reason, and the Ethics of Belief," the author has attempted, using her epistemological theory—namely, trustworthiness and modeling based on admiration (where we try to emulate and become like those we admire)—to resolve the problem of religious diversity as well as the problem of the relationship between reason and faith.

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Philosophy of Religion: A Historical Introduction; Linda Zagzebski, translated by Shahab al-Din Abbasi, Parseh Book Publishing, First Edition, Tehran: 1394

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