# Philosophy Thesis Ideas?



## Gravey (Jan 26, 2015)

Hi all,
I'm keen to hear some ideas that you might have for an Mdiv thesis in the discipline of Philosophy of Religion? Are there particular areas that haven't had much research?

Thanks!


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## RamistThomist (Jan 26, 2015)

You could evaluate various approaches to warrant and the "ethics of belief."


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## jwright82 (Jan 26, 2015)

What are your constraints for your thesis?


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## Gravey (Jan 26, 2015)

Constraints are: 60,000 words, Turabian format. Other than that I've just got to present it to the faculty, get a supervisor and go with it...That's a little down the way yet, just interested in getting the ball rolling so I won't be jamming it all into my final year


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## Gravey (Jan 26, 2015)

As far as my interests - I'm very interested in moral philosophy, ethics, and the metaphysical presuppositions of naturalism. I've also thought that a thorougher study on the philosophy of King Solomon and how it relates to where society is at today would be interesting...


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Jan 27, 2015)

Well, the objective morality argument certainly could use more study by the church militant. Given that once a person believes that there is such a thing as objective reality and that there are such things objective truths, then that person has posited a metaphysical claim--namely that the correspondence theory of truth is an adequate test for truth. Then the question becomes, which worldview can adequately appropriate and support such a belief? Is it a matter of who has the best explanation and not who can prove it objectively?


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## RamistThomist (Jan 27, 2015)

Gravey said:


> As far as my interests - I'm very interested in moral philosophy, ethics, and the metaphysical presuppositions of naturalism. I've also thought that a thorougher study on the philosophy of King Solomon and how it relates to where society is at today would be interesting...



http://www.amazon.com/Bonds-Imperfe...2378641&sr=8-1&keywords=bonds+of+imperfection
http://www.amazon.com/Oliver-ODonovan/e/B001HMKIUM/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1422378659&sr=1-2-ent
http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Two-Bod...sr=1-1&keywords=king's+two+bodies+kantorowicz (4th most important book I've ever read)


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## Toasty (Jan 27, 2015)

Gravey said:


> As far as my interests - I'm very interested in moral philosophy, ethics, and the metaphysical presuppositions of naturalism. I've also thought that a thorougher study on the philosophy of King Solomon and how it relates to where society is at today would be interesting...



Perhaps you could write about the abortion controversy. You could refute the arguments of David Boonin, Mary Anne Warren, Michael Tooley, Judith Jarvis Thomson, and others.


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## Gravey (Jan 27, 2015)

The abortion controversy is certainly something I'd consider...


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## Gravey (Jan 27, 2015)

As far as the thinkers I like to read, here is a list of the men who spurred my interest in philosophy: Swinburne, Plantinga, Copleston, Craig, Zacharias, Geisler, Willard, Lewis, Muggeridge, Chesterton, Sarte, Russell, Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Kierkegaard, Kant, Descartes, Aquinas.


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## Timotheos (Jan 27, 2015)

You could assess the moral moorings of William J. Webb especially from his book Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis. He also did one of the 4 views on the counterpoint books on Four Views on Moving beyond the Bible to Theology.

His ideas about morality in the evangelical world are getting picked up and can be quite unsettling. Particularly is his redemptive-movement hermeneutic and how it influences his morality (i.e. how he uses it to justify homosexuality and other related hot button issues).


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## Timotheos (Jan 27, 2015)

Having recently written a ThM thesis (and getting one of the chapters published!), remember a couple of things:

(1) this is not a PhD dissertation, and even if it was, a dissertation is not meant to be your life's work. They just want to make sure you can do research and form cogent arguments. So don't kill yourself trying to write a world altering/life shattering thesis.
(2) we all want to contribute something to the scholarly community, but a masters thesis doesn't necessarily have to
(3) you sound like me, lacking good ideas sometimes. don't rush into something that you will later regret. I changed my thesis topic 3 times in the course of my studies. And I am so glad I landed where I did.
(4) original ideas are bonuses. so rehashing the same tired issues may not be helpful. So all of those ideas about abortion may hinder rather than help you.
(5) what have you been reading and studying already? For me, I was reading on my thesis subject area (Revelation) a year in advance before I started my actual research. Perhaps that could be your guide in decision making.


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## Timotheos (Jan 27, 2015)

Sacred space and the nature of being just came to me.


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## Gravey (Jan 27, 2015)

Thanks Timotheos - great advice for someone in my position, I appreciate it very much.


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## Peairtach (Jan 27, 2015)

Gravey said:


> Hi all,
> I'm keen to hear some ideas that you might have for an Mdiv thesis in the discipline of Philosophy of Religion? Are there particular areas that haven't had much research?
> 
> Thanks!



Choose one of the major false religions and compare it presuppositionally with Christianity.

Each major false religion "deserves" a book length analysis by a presupposiyional apologist, and I don't think they have that, yet.

Not much has been done in this area, although a fellow called Michael A. Robinson has written a couple of books on it. 

Compare the Rock of the great I AM, with the "rock" of a heathen religion, theologically and philosophically, and show who's building on sand.

"For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges." (Deuteronomy 32:31)

The apologetic works of people like Van Til, Bahnsen and Frame may be of assistance in your analysis.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk 2


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## Gravey (Jan 27, 2015)

Richard, a very insightful proposal. Something I will certainly consider! Thanks for the advice.


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## Stephen L Smith (Jan 28, 2015)

Gravey said:


> Richard, a very insightful proposal. Something I will certainly consider! Thanks for the advice.


Of course to do Presuppositional apologetics, you will need to be familiar with the writings of Van Til, Bahnsen, Oliphint etc


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