Edward Feser

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Edward Feser
Religion Roman Catholic
Books The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism; Aquinas; Locke; The Cambridge Companion to Hayek; On Nozick
Alma mater University of California, Santa Barbara, Claremont Graduate School, California State University at Fullerton
Institutions Pasadena City College
Website edwardfeser.com

Edward C. Feser is associate professor of philosophy at Pasadena City College, as well as visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University. He is also a visiting scholar at the social philosophy and policy center at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1999 with a PhD in philosophy; his thesis was entitled "Russell, Hayek, and the mind-body problem".[1]

By his own account, Feser had been an atheist for ten years during his early adulthood. However, as a graduate student in philosophy, his deep readings of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas led him back to a Christian belief in God and the Roman Catholic Church (he had been baptized and confirmed as a child). He is now harshly critical of "the new atheists" for what he claims are their fashionable straw man caricatures and distortions of classical theological arguments.[2][3] He also considers intelligent design to be incompatible with the classical Thomistic arguments for the existence of God.[4]

In recent years, Feser has become well known for his polemical book, The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism, in which he makes a philosophical argument for the classical Aristotelian-Thomistic worldview over and against the materialist assumptions and scientistic prejudices of contemporary atheists such as Richard Dawkins, of whom he is particularly critical. Additionally, Feser has written a number of articles for the website of the politically conservative Witherspoon Institute.[5]

Reception

Feser has been called "one of the best contemporary writers on philosophy" by National Review.[6] In the Review of Metaphysics, Michael O'Halloran wrote that in The Last Superstition, Feser "melds philosophical acumen with an acute sense of humor."[7] In Booklist, Ray Olson wrote of the same book that "With energy and humor as well as transparent exposition, Feser reestablishes the unassailable superiority of classical philosophy."[8] D. Q. McInerny of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary wrote in the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly that "Of all the books written in response to “the new atheists"...this one has to be counted among the very best."[9]

Personal life

Feser is married, and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and six children.[10]

Books

References

  1. Russell, Hayek, and the mind-body problem
  2. Govorcin, Damir (22 July 2012). "New Atheism ‘is devoid of moral, intellectual merit’". The Catholic Weekly. Retrieved 23 October 2013. 
  3. Feser, Edward (26 March 2010). "The New Philistinism". The American. Retrieved 2 February 2014. 
  4. Cudworth, Thomas (20 April 2011). "A New Question for Edward Feser". Uncommon Descent. Retrieved 27 October 2013. 
  5. "Edward Feser". Public Discourse. Witherspoon Institute. Retrieved 24 October 2013. 
  6. http://catholicapologeticsacademy.com/faculty/dr-edward-feser/
  7. O'Halloran, Michael (June 2009). "The Last Superstition Review". Review of Metaphysics 62 (4): 926–928. 
  8. Olson, Ray (October 2008). "The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism.". Booklist. Retrieved 25 October 2013. 
  9. McInerny, D.Q. (Winter 2011). "The Last Superstition". Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly 34 (4): 42. 
  10. http://www.edwardfeser.com/about.html
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