Steinberger, Peter (Reed College)

The Problem with God: Why Atheists, True Believers, and Even Agnostics Must All Be Wrong Steinberger, Peter (Reed College)

Commendation Quotes: What do we really think deep down? This is the question Peter J. Steinberger pursues in this timely and important new book. Along the way, he announces a pox on all the houses in the God debate by shifting the question from whether God exists to an evaluation of our inability to engage in reasonable and commonsense thinking. In so doing, he models a form of systematic and rigorous philosophical argumentation that is accessible to a nonspecialist and provides a life-affirming philosophy that proves beyond any shadow of a doubt the world as we know it cannot be all there is. Commendation Quotes: Again the world is abuzz with talk about God: What God commands and what God condemns, and which country or people or state God happens to love best. Theists and atheists are locked in endless debate, and agnostics say they 'just don't know.' Yet can we really talk about God at all? Peter J. Steinberger has an answer, and even if it leaves you banging your head against the wall, it is one of the most honest answers around. Steinberger is an accomplished political philosopher with a whole string of credits to his name. He also happens to be one of the finest educators at one of the finest liberal-arts colleges in the country. But in this little book he leaves his academic language at the office. "The Problem with God" is quite simply one of the most entertaining books you'll ever read about a deadly-serious question. Commendation Quotes: Peter Steinberger's the "Problem of God" is a timely, spirited, and analytically rigorous meditation on a pressing contemporary concern: whether or not it is conceptually meaningful to predicate God's existence. Lucidly written and brimming with helpful illustrations, it offers an indispensable perspective on the intellectual history of the present. Commendation Quotes: A timely, spirited, and analytically rigorous meditation on a pressing contemporary concern: whether or not it is conceptually meaningful to predicate God's existence. Lucidly written and brimming with helpful illustrations, it offers an indispensable perspective on the intellectual history of the present. Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Biographical Note: Peter J. Steinberger is the Robert H. and Blanche Day Ellis Professor of Political Science and Humanities at Reed College, where he also served as dean of the faculty from 1997 to 2010. He is the author of "The Idea of the State," "The Concept of Political Judgment," "Logic and Politics: Hegel's Philosophy of Right," and "Ideology and the Urban Crisis," and his essays have appeared in the "New York Times," "Wall Street Journal," "Christian Science Monitor," and other general interest publications. Table of Contents: 1. The Problem with God -- 2. What in God's Name Am I Doing? -- 3. The Impossible Dream -- 4. Even if the Flesh is Willing -- 5. Atheism ... -- 6. ... and Agnosticism -- 7. Full Faith and No Credit -- 8. It's All in a Good Cause -- 9. Detective Fiction -- 10. An Inkling of ... -- 11. ... The Truth -- Afterword: Not Enough? -- Amplifications and Clarifications (AKA Notes) -- Acknowledgments -- Index of Names. Contributor Bio:  Steinberger, Peter J Peter J. Steinberger is Robert H. and Blanche Day Ellis Professor of Political Science and Humanities at Reed College. His books include The Idea of the State (Cambridge University Press, 2004), The Concept of Political Judgment (1993) and Logic and Politics: Hegel's Philosophy of Right (1988). His articles have appeared in many scholarly journals including American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Political Theory and Political Studies as well as in such general interest publications as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Christian Science Monitor.