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Why heaven doesn't make earth absolutely meaningless, just relatively

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2020

T. J. MAWSON Open the ORCID record for T. J. MAWSON [Opens in a new window]
T. J. MAWSON*
Affiliation:
St Peter's College, Oxford, OX1 2DL, UK
*
e-mail: tim.mawson@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

In this article, I seek charitably to develop an argument suggested by Thaddeus Metz. This is an argument against the view that it is consistent to hold that, while our lives may have some meaningfulness even if there is no heavenly afterlife awaiting us, if there is such an afterlife, they are even more meaningful, because heaven adds a potential infinity of meaningfulness. Having developed this argument on Metz's behalf, I criticize it. I conclude that – while throwing out a number of interesting ideas and possibilities along the way – no argument along Metz's lines can finally reach the conclusion aimed for.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 57 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 732 - 751
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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