Frederick Pond Ferré (March 23, 1933 – March 22, 2013) was Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at
The University of Georgia. He was a past president of the
Metaphysical Society of America
The Metaphysical Society of America (MSA) is a philosophy, philosophical organization founded by Paul Weiss (philosopher), Paul Weiss in 1950. As stated in its constitution, "The purpose of the Metaphysical Society of America is the study of real ...
. Much of his work concerned how metaphysics is entwined with practical questions about how we live our life, including the ethical dimensions of life.
Education
*
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...
, 1950–51.
*
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
, A.B. (major History)
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
, 1954
*
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
, M.A. (Philosophy of History) 1955.
* Vanderbilt University Divinity School (Theological Studies) 1955–56.
*
University of St. Andrews (Scotland), Ph.D. (Philosophy of Religion) 1959.
Work
His most notable contribution to scholarship was a defense of
Christian metaphysics in response to the charge of people like
G.E. Moore and
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...
that Christian claims are linguistically meaningless and should be rejected as such. Ferre argued that Christian
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
was legitimate because it passed a fourfold test of a metaphysical worldview, being consistent, coherent, applicable, and adequate.
Bibliography
* ''Language, Logic And God'' (1961),
Harper
* ''Basic Modern Philosophy Of Religion'' (1967)
Scribner
* ''Being And Value : Toward A Constructive Postmodern Metaphysics'' (1996)
State University of New York Press
The State University of New York Press (more commonly referred to as the SUNY Press) is a university press affiliated with the State University of New York system. The press, which was founded in 1966, is located in Albany, New York and publishe ...
* ''Ethics And Environmental Policy : Theory Meets Practice'' (1994) with Peter Hartel
University of Georgia Press
The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is the university press of the University of Georgia, a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. It is the oldest and largest publishing house in Georgia and a me ...
* ''God And Global Justice : Religion And Poverty In An Unequal World'' (1985) with Rita H. Mataragnon,
Paragon House
* ''Philosophy Of Technology'' (1988),
Prentice Hall
Prentice Hall was a major American publishing#Textbook_publishing, educational publisher. It published print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market. It was an independent company throughout the bulk of the twentieth cen ...
* ''Hellfire And Lightning Rods : Liberating Science, Technology, And Religion'' (1993),
Orbis Books
* ''Introduction To Positive Philosophy.'' / Edited, With Introd. And Rev. Translation, By Frederick Ferré (1970),
Bobbs-Merrill
* ''Knowing And Value : Toward A Constructive Postmodern Epistemology'' (1998)
State University of New York Press
The State University of New York Press (more commonly referred to as the SUNY Press) is a university press affiliated with the State University of New York system. The press, which was founded in 1966, is located in Albany, New York and publishe ...
* ''Living And Value : Toward A Constructive Postmodern Ethics'' (2001),
State University of New York Press
The State University of New York Press (more commonly referred to as the SUNY Press) is a university press affiliated with the State University of New York system. The press, which was founded in 1966, is located in Albany, New York and publishe ...
* "Mapping the Logic of Models in Science and Theology" ''
Christian Scholar'', Volume 46, 1963
References
Further reading
* George Allan, Merle Frederick Allshouse
''Nature, Truth, And Value'' Lexington Books, 2006.
American Christian theologians
Philosophers of religion
Presidents of the Metaphysical Society of America
2013 deaths
1933 births
American philosophers of technology
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