This special issue of In Pursuit of Truth contains four philosophical papers delivered at the Philosophy Symposium of the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute, Oxbridge 2008: The Self and the Search for Meaning. Oxbridge 2008 was the 7th meeting of this Summer Institute, a triennial event produced and convened by the C.S. Lewis Foundation. The conference was held in the cities and universities of Oxford and Cambridge, England, July 28-August 8, 2008. These Summer Institutes,...
Self, Meaning, and the World
The search for a philosophically satisfying account of the self and meaning is partly the search for knowledge and understanding: knowledge of what there is and how those things are related, as well as understanding the significance of things. When we propose to confer about the search for meaning, we usually have in mind the quite specific project of determining what features of the...
The Human Search For the ‘Good Life’
I should start by saying that, although this philosophy symposium is about the search for meaning, discussions which rely on the term “meaning” in talking about the human search for a meaningful life seem to me to be largely modern discussions. I don’t think you’ll find historically many philosophers writing about the conditions for a “meaningful life”. But philosophers have talked a great deal...
The Image of God, Religion, and the Meaning of Life: Toward a Christian Philosophical Anthropology
Prospectus: This paper notes the challenge of scientific naturalism to religion and Christianity and briefly denies that naturalism is supported by science. It then outlines an alternative perspective in two stages. The first is an account of the biblical doctrine of the image of God as the essence and meaning of human life. Based on the first, the second stage outlines a Christian philosophical...
Physicalism, Dualism, Death, and Resurrection
In his essay “The Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting,” Trenton Merricks argues that the attitudes expressed by the writers of Scripture about both death and resurrection make more sense from a materialist perspective than from a dualist point of view. Here’s his argument. The Bible treats death as a great evil. For instance, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 that...
Inspired by the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis, the C.S. Lewis Foundation is dedicated to advancing the renewal of Christian scholarship and artistic expression throughout the mainstream of our colleges and universities, and by extension, the culture at large.
In this spirit, the Foundation offers this online, peer-reviewed journal to stimulate discussion concerning the relationship of Christianity to the academy and the arts.
