Friday Program
Gordy Mower-“Skeptical Religion”
Abstract:
Michaël Ulrich-“The Book of Abraham and the Philosophy of Mathematics”
Abstract:
The third chapter of the Book of Abraham is well-known for its references to astronomy. But, up to now, little attention has been devoted to its potential impact for the philosophy of mathematics. Indeed, verse 16 says that “if two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them”. This principle seems akin to one of Peano’s axiom for the construction of the set of natural integers. The construction relies on the fact that every integer has a ‘successor’ and the only one who is not the successor of someone is 0.
The talk will explore the possible significance of this principle for mathematical realism, fictionalism and structuralism. We will then continue our study by examining whether verse 16 implies an actual infinite or only a potential one. We will also try to construct a vision of mathematics as following from an “intuition of progression” rather than from an intuition of time.
Kristen Blair– “Agents of Good and Evil”
Abstract:
Hannah Arendt advances agential intentionality as the central force of moral action, imagining evil not as an autonomous or existential force but as a condition of entropy and inaction. Similarly, evil in Latter- day Saint imagination could be understood as an infinite and un-created condition of the material and spiritual world, which is brought to fruition by means of human action or inaction. Moral agency, therefore, is phenomenologically potent, possessing critical and even ultimate importance.
I investigate Hannah Arendt’s arguments in The Banality of Evil and The Human Condition to explore a philosophy of moral agency characterizing evil as a phenomenologically material and spiritual condition of the world. I argue that this framework tracks to Latter-day Saint understandings of moral agency in important ways, offering a unique perspective on evil and human suffering which is radically dissimilar from traditional Christianity.
I defend this framework within a dialogue of Latter-day Saint philosophical thought and
develop a philosophical portrait of Latter-day Saint understandings of moral agency based in the tradition’s philosophical understanding of creation and materiality, suggesting a theological and philosophical framework in which evil and good have generative potentiality catalyzed by human engagement in the world’s material and spiritual conditions.
Michael Cevering– “Of Proofs and Prophets
Abstract:
Natural theology is the project of articulating philosophical proofs about the existence
and nature of god(s), and as such has often borne scrutiny of evicting faith and enthroning
intellect. Such scrutiny is expected when the implications of a robust proof appear
metaphysically incompatible with one’s religious claims; the intellect thus imposing itself on a belief system otherwise cultivated by subjective experience, including one’s pneumatological experience.
Against philosophical inquiry, are we meant to acquit our beliefs and reject natural
theology in the name of faith? My claim is that LDS scripture indicates faith as an intellectual virtue, and so it does not separate itself from the sanctions of reason. This includes scripture’s attendance to the intuitions of natural theology, such as the claim that all things evidence the existence of God (Alma 30.44), and that what is good “acknowledgeth” that Christ exists (Moroni 10.6). Additionally, LDS scripture substantiates the idea that faith arises from (multifarious) evidence, including evidence from reason and evidence from the Holy Spirit. Such epistemic themes lend themselves to wrestling with the virtues and vices of natural theology, and therefore absolve a fideistic dependence on prophetic revelation.
Ryan Christensen– “Eternal Marriage”
Abstract:
The doctrine of eternal marriage is a radical revisioning of heaven. On the traditional view, the reward of heaven is the beatific vision, an overwhelming participation in God’s glory that leaves no room for human loves. The doctrine of eternal marriage modifies this view of heaven to make room for a special erotic relationship that persists.
But this doctrine is poorly understood. Earthly states treat marriage as a bundle of rights and obligations, but most of these rights and obligations seem to have no place in heaven. If we understand marriage, rather, as an exchange of lovers’ vows apart from formal governance, then, on the one hand, we have a similar problem: how are we to understand a heaven that makes room for such relationship; and on the other hand, why would a temple covenant be necessary to bring such a relationship to heaven?
So the problem of the doctrine is twofold: first, how are we to understand marriage such that the doctrine is possible and substantial, and second, how are we to understand heaven to make room for this marriage?
I will explore the possibilities of a marriage-as-union view based on Aristophanes’ speech in Plato’s Symposium.
Eliza Wells– “Feminist Ethics of Care in LDS Theory and Practice”
Abstract:
Feminist ethics of care is a normative ethical theory focused on the moral significance of interdependence and vulnerability. For care ethicists, this philosophical work is an important tool for achieving gender equality. If our moral theories valued the labor and concerns traditionally taken on by women, rather than excluding their voices or abstracting away from their needs, we would have the conceptual tools to make practical progress.
This project examines the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church) as a case study for care ethics’ theoretical and practical efficacy. Unlike the systems that most care ethicists critique, I argue, LDS doctrine, teachings, and culture demonstrate commitment to care principles. Despite this, the LDS church has not achieved the gender equality towards which care ethics aims. This work contributes to LDS thought by highlighting, assessing, and further developing elements of feminist ethics of care in LDS doctrine. It also contributes to the care ethics literature by providing a case study of what it would take for care ethics to succeed as a path towards gender equality.
Nate Oman– “Natural Law and LDS Theology”
Abstract:
A number of Latter-day Saint thinkers have expressed skepticism about the possibility of natural law theory within the context of Mormon theology. The metaphysical objection to natural law suggests that the arguments developed by Aquinas and his followers will not work for Latter-day Saints because by denying ex nihilio creation, Latter-day Saint thought radically changes the relationship between God and creation in a way that undermines natural law arguments. The epistemic objection is that because Latter-day Saints prioritize the idea of revelation, natural law’s ambition to ground moral judgments in reasoned argument is misguided and perhaps impious.
This skeptical stance, however, fails to grapple with the so-called “New Natural Law” theory associated with John Finnis, which reframes natural law within a set of thinner metaphysical assumptions. The epistemic objection seems to flirt with fideism. Revelation does not preclude belief in human reason. The idea of revelation is ambiguous and can refer to the Holy Spirit moving human reason. Ultimately, this paper does not offer a complete reconciliation of natural law theory with Latter-day Saint theology or even claim that such a final synthesis is possible. It does, however, suggest that modern natural law theory cannot be as glibly dismissed as many Latter-day Saints assume.
Saturday Program
Joseph Spencer– “Parable and Metaphor”
Abstract:
New Testament research into the parables of Jesus has long developed a studied nervousness about allegorical interpretation—not only the extreme styles of allegorization that appear in early medieval Christian writings, but also the milder styles of allegorization that many commentators discern within the New Testament’s gospels themselves.
This paper outlines an argument that the supposedly paradigmatic instance of allegorical interpretation of the parables—the explanation of the Parable of the Sower, as laid out in its earliest form in Mark 4—is in fact not an allegorical interpretation, but something different entirely. Building on similarities between the literary genre of the parables and the literary trope of metaphor, as well as on a closer reading of the text in Mark 4, the paper makes a case that the explanation of the Parable of the Sower condenses the parable itself and then includes that condensation of the parable within a further telling of the parable.
This inclusion of the parable (in condensed form) within the parable itself has interesting philosophical implications—confirming the relevance of Donald Davidson’s analysis of metaphor to a study of the parables and echoing in interesting ways J. L. Austin’s approach to identifying performative utterances.
Nate Rockwood-“Two or Three Witnesses”
Abstract:
Christian philosophers often appeal to the testimony of the resurrection of Jesus as evidence for Christianity. My thesis is that if the miracles of Jesus are accepted on the strength of the evidence from testimony, then the testimony of the witnesses of the plates should likewise be accepted on the strength of the evidence from testimony, and this would provide significant evidence for Mormonism.
In the paper, I offer sufficient conditions for rationally believing a person’s testimony. I then argue that there are no general defeaters for the testimony of miracles, opening up the possibility of rationally believing the testimony of miracles. Finally, I argue that there is strong evidence from testimony both for the resurrection of Jesus and for the existence of the golden plates, and so the testimony of Jesus provides strong evidence for Christianity then the testimony of the plates likewise provides strong evidence for Mormonism
Mike Hansen– “Purer Eyes”
Abstract:
Brock Mason– “The Book of Mormon and Embodiment”
Abstract:
This paper explores the scriptural foundations for an LDS view of human embodiment, relying on sermons from Lehi, Jacob, and Alma. These prophets routinely describe salvation in bodily terms, through the lens of the resurrection. For Lehi, our bodies are inherently moral—their creation requires law, without which “there could have been no creation of things,” for God’s “eternal purposes in the end of man” require the possibility of moral agency. (2 Ne 2:13, 15). Jacob argues that our bodies are not only created against a backdrop of law, but judgment requires embodiment. For unless we are resurrected, “our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God.” (2 Ne 9:8). Our bodies are not only created for righteous living, they are required for judgment and salvation.
Finally, Alma describes the body as naturally—properly—immortal and incorruptible. (Alma 41:2–4). For resurrection is required by the “law of restoration,” which ensures that “all things [are] restored to their proper order.” (Alma 41:2). By reading these three prophets together, I will try and suggest ways in which embodiment should become more central to our understanding of righteousness and redemption.
Zachary Gubler– “The Early LDS Theology of the Body”
Abstract:
In LDS art and sermonizing, the human person is often depicted as consisting of two things, spirit and body, each of which are capable of subsisting without the other. But this Cartesian-style dualism is in tension with the early LDS view that the human person consists of a single thing, matter, while at the same time containing an attribute, intelligence or spirit, which is not dependent on corporeal operations.
In this project, I depart from other interpretations of this early LDS view by suggesting that Joseph Smith was urging a type of pre-modern understanding where matter actually contains the meaning that Descartes attributed to mind. One way of operationalizing this view is through the hylomorphic dualism of Aquinas, which teaches that all things are the result of combining matter and meaning-giving “form” and that in the case of the human, this form contains intellect, which is not dependent on the body for its functions. This conception of the human holds important insights for appreciating the plan of salvation while yielding certain interesting ethical implications that might be at odds with familiar LDS approaches to such subjects.
Adam Miller– “Truth is a Work”
Abstract:
Say that we wanted to study religion. And say that we wanted to study religion as something more than an artifact of history or as more than a social apparatus. Say, for example, we wanted to investigate whether there really was such a thing as an irreducibly messianic core to Christianity. In this case, if, as scholars, we were going to investigate the immanent reality of one of Christianity’s core soteriological claims—for example, its claim to fundamentally reorganize, and thus liberate, human subjects—then this messianic moment is what must come into focus.
It’s my claim that in order to meaningfully investigate this messianic reformation of subjectivity within an immanent frame, religious studies needs the kinds of tools that Continental philosophy of religion offers and, further, that Continental philosophy of religion could itself greatly benefit from attending to the kind of case study that Mormonism in particular provides. Continental philosophy offers powerful conceptual tools for bringing the immanent, practical reality of the messianic into focus and Mormonism offers an exemplary case study in the transposition of classical Christian soteriology into an immanent frame.