Analysis of Existing Barry Miller's Approach to God [Paperback]

Miller's metaphysics, including his approach to God, is broad, deep, and original, with the potential to make a fruitful contribution to contemporary philosophy. Yet it has not received the critical attention it deserves.

Miller's work deserves critical attention because of its thorough and original defense of three highly controversial positions: that existence is a real property of concrete individuals; that it is possible to prove, without assuming any principle of sufficient reason, that there is an uncaused cause of the universe; and that the uncaused cause is the simple God of classical theism. Miller's position on existence is an important alternative in current analytical philosophy to what Miller calls the Frege-Russell-Quine theory, and the neo-Meinongian positions of Terence Parsons and Ed Zalta. Miller's argument for an uncaused cause of the universe has been described one of the most ambitious theistic arguments produced by a well-respected, contemporary, analytic philosopher.Analysis of Existing: Barry Miller's Approach to Godis the first clear, systematic interpretation of Miller's theistic philosophy.

Foreword iii

Abbreviations v

Introduction 1

Chapter One: Barry Miller's Philosophical Journey 6

I. Miller's life 6

II. Miller's philosophical theology 13

III. Looking ahead 21

Chapter Two: Beginning with Existence 22

I. Is existence a property of concrete individuals? 27
II. Is existence a real property of concrete individuals? 39
III. Miller's constituent ontology lƒL