# Nicholas Woltersrff



## jwright82 (Jan 10, 2020)

Any thoughts on Woltersrff's philosophy of justice, particularly he mentioned the early church father's and their belief that not giving to the poor was stealing from the poor. His Reformed Epistemology would be interesting as well, his book on Locke and the ethics of belief.


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## RamistThomist (Jan 10, 2020)

jwright82 said:


> Any thoughts on Woltersrff's philosophy of justice, particularly he mentioned the early church father's and their belief that not giving to the poor was stealing from the poor. His Reformed Epistemology would be interesting as well, his book on Locke and the ethics of belief.



His interpretation of the fathers on thsi point is accurate. The problem is that the fathers lived in an economically volatile world (crop shortage in Alexandria = famine for the world). We have safety nets today for the poor that they couldn't image.

I don't know if I call myself a Reformed epistemologist. I do think he is an important thinker.


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## Reformed Covenanter (Jan 10, 2020)

I heard him give a lecture at Queen's 7 or 8 years ago that touched on the subject. To be honest, though, he was not the plainest speaker that I have ever heard.


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## RamistThomist (Jan 10, 2020)

He is worth reading because he is a careful thinker and he provides a good model of how to work through philosophical issues. He isn't as technical or arcane as Plantinga, so that is good.


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## jwright82 (Jan 10, 2020)

BayouHuguenot said:


> He is worth reading because he is a careful thinker and he provides a good model of how to work through philosophical issues. He isn't as technical or arcane as Plantinga, so that is good.


What are his thoughts on the ethics of belief?


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## RamistThomist (Jan 11, 2020)

jwright82 said:


> What are his thoughts on the ethics of belief?



I reviewed him here.
https://tentsofshem.wordpress.com/2016/09/26/the-ethics-of-belief-review/

Reactions: Like 1


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## RamistThomist (Jan 11, 2020)

Short answer is that ethics of belief for Locke meant before you could believe anything you had to fully satisfy the criteria for evidence for that belief. Wolterstorff shows how untenable such a position is.


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## jwright82 (Jan 11, 2020)

BayouHuguenot said:


> Short answer is that ethics of belief for Locke meant before you could believe anything you had to fully satisfy the criteria for evidence for that belief. Wolterstorff shows how untenable such a position is.


Oh who was that guy that is famously refuted by Plantinga and Woltersrff? He said "you should never believe anything without sufficient evidence"? Plantinga and Woltersrff are right to critique him. I would find it odd to be morally responsible for justifying a belief like "My car is in the driveway".


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## jwright82 (Jan 11, 2020)

BayouHuguenot said:


> I reviewed him here.
> https://tentsofshem.wordpress.com/2016/09/26/the-ethics-of-belief-review/


Loved the review.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Clark-Tillian (Jan 14, 2020)

BayouHuguenot said:


> He is worth reading because he is a careful thinker and he provides a good model of how to work through philosophical issues. He isn't as technical or arcane as Plantinga, so that is good.



Using A. Plantinga as the bar for philosophical technicalities is setting it extremely high. LOL. I heard him give a lecture at Calvin in the early 90's when I lived in Gr. Rapids (Stobb lectures, maybe?) and he hit the ground running. His brother, Neil, isn't in his league as a thinker, but he's a decidedly easier read.

Reactions: Like 1


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## RamistThomist (Jan 14, 2020)

Clark-Tillian said:


> Using A. Plantinga as the bar for philosophical technicalities is setting it extremely high. LOL. I heard him give a lecture at Calvin in the early 90's when I lived in Gr. Rapids (Stobb lectures, maybe?) and he hit the ground running. His brother, Neil, isn't in his league as a thinker, but he's a decidedly easier read.



Like this?




LOL

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Clark-Tillian (Jan 14, 2020)

BayouHuguenot said:


> Like this?
> View attachment 6549
> 
> LOL



Yes, but he'll translate it into Dutch and then vocalize it backwards. ROFLMHO. The family really is an incredible batch of high IQ achievers. Another brother taught musicology at Yale, another (I think) was a heavy hitter at CBS News. When I moved to Gr. Rapids, Lyle Bierma was my first theology teacher (he now heads up the Ph.D program at Calvin Sem). In a private discussion I asked Lyle about Corneilus Plantinga. I then was told--"the entire family reads all day everyday". And Bierma is no dummy.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## jwright82 (Jan 16, 2020)

BayouHuguenot said:


> Like this?
> View attachment 6549
> 
> LOL


That's not technical at all. The answer is you go left to Calvin seminary and right to Princeton. Duh!


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