School Notes
Date posted: Apr 29, 2019
The Philosophy Department was awarded a three-year, $994,071 grant for “Philosophy, Theology, and Psychology of Christian Trust in God,” whose principal investigator is Associate Professor Daniel McKaughan.
McKaughan says that trust in God plays a vital role in Christianity, but has been under-investigated in philosophy and theology.
“Our project will bring together philosophers, psychologists, and theologians for interdisciplinary work that aims to clarify a number of issues related to the attitude of trust in God,” he explained. “We will explore, for example, ways that theology conceives of its nature and value; examine the norms that govern it—including rational, moral, and practical norms of interest to a philosopher—and consider what relevant constructs might be worthy of empirical investigation by psychologists.
“The goal is both to advance discussions in philosophy of religion and theology, including input from a substantial psychological literature on trust, and to facilitate a subsequent program of empirical research based on foundational conceptual work established in this project. We expect that work undertaken on the project will have implications for how we think about a cluster of ‘faith and reason’ issues of interest to philosophers and theologians, and even a potential practical impact for pastoral counselors helping people to think about how trust in God might co-exist with doubt in their own religious lives. We hope that aspects of the project will be of interest not only to religious communities but also of broad public interest, given significant disagreements and ambivalence about the value of trust in God.”