Reason and the heart : a prolegomenon to a critique of passional reason /

Wainwright (Univ. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) explores the view that religious beliefs can and should be based on supporting evidence that can be accurately assessed only by people having suitable moral and spiritual capacities. This view implies that a "properly disposed heart" is needed for one to see the "force" of certain evidence bearing on religious beliefs. Calvin and Aquinas suggested such a view, but Wainwright devotes the opening chapter to its defense by Jonathan Edwards, arguing for the plausibility of Edwards's view, given his theism. Chapters 2 and 3 contend that the epistemological views of John Henry Newman and William James have important affinities with Edwards's view of religious reasoning. Newman and James identified the influence of our "passional nature" on all reasoning. Chapter 4 replies to some objections to the view that our passional nature may influence our reasoning and beliefs. Chapter 5 considers the threat of relativism, arguing that such a view as Edwards's does not imply the relativity of either truth or standards of rationality. The epilogue offers arguments for taking an Edwards-style view of reason seriously. Highly recommended for all philosophy collections. Graduate; faculty. P. K. Moser; Loyola University of Chicago