Cases and Maps - Coppenger, Mark

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Résumé :
A dying man hires the services of a cannibal; a customs official insults a world-class sculptor; a farmer complains that low-flying bombers are killing his chickens; two rock groups claim the same name; a monkey takes a selfie; and a minister with mail-order credentials performs a wedding. The resulting court cases (and sixteen others) serve to introduce a wide range of philosophical notions (such as libertarianism, speciesism, and speech acts). Next, a subway employee draws a revolutionary map; a mountain loses its name; a strange cineplex puts people in each others' movies; the art museums of Madrid loom over neighboring buildings; a nautical chart guides seamen into a Connecticut port; and Jerusalem stands due north of the Mediterranean. These maps (twenty-three in all), whether real or imaginary, introduce yet other philosophical notions (such as pragmatism, universals, and paradigms). Along the way in both sections, we meet a wide range of thinkers, from Plato to Aquinas to Hume to Kant to Searle. The explanations and discussion questions are written from a Christian perspective, inviting believers to join in the perennial dialogue with the conviction that if you don't have philosophical and theological positions sorted out, then they will have you.

Biographie:
Mark Coppenger is Professor of Christian Philosophy and Ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of Moral Apologetics for Contemporary Christians (2011) and editor of A Skeptic's Guide to Arts in the Church (2018). Before seminary, he taught philosophy at Wheaton College. His written work has appeared in a variety of periodicals, including Teaching Philosophy, American Spectator, and the online editions of the Washington Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer.