Is nature ever evil? : religion, science, and value / edited by Willem B. Drees.

London ; New York : Routledge, 2003.

xv, 341 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

This vale of tears - the best of all possible worlds? / Willem B. Drees -- PART I. NATURE, SCIENCE AND VALUE -- Criticizing the cosmos / Mary Midgley -- Response to Mary Midgley's 'Criticizing the cosmos' / Silvia Völker -- Mary Midgley on science, nature, metaphysics and ethics: some comments / Hans Radder -- Mind and value: reflections on Max Weber / Joachim Leilich -- Moral relevance of naturalness / Tatjana Visak -- Experience of nature: a hermeneutic approach / Angela Roothaan -- Human interpretation and animal excellence / Peter Scheers -- PART II. EVIL EVOLUTIONARY JUSTIFIED? -- Naturalizing and systematizing evil / Holmes Rolston, III -- Cooperation or competition: comments on Rolston / Jacobus J. De Vries -- Rolston: a contemporary physico-theologian / Jozef Keulartz -- Are catastrophes in nature ever evil? / Jan Smit -- Contingency and risk: comment on Smit / Arthur C. Petersen -- Nature does not care indeed, but humans do: a commentary / Fred Spier -- Lisbon earthquake, 1755: a discourse about the 'nature' of nature / Claudia Sanides-Kohlrausch -- Tragedy versus hope: what future in an open universe? / Arnold Benz -- Tragedy versus hope? A theological response / Eduardo R. Cruz -- Cosmic fine-tuning, 'many universe' theories and the goodness of life / Neil A. Manson -- PART III. IMPROVING NATURE VIA CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY? -- Improvable nature? / John Hedley Brooke -- Victims of nature cry out / Leo P. Ten Kate -- 'Improvable nature?' Some meta-historical reflections / Henk G. Geertsema -- Is nature neutral? The concept of health / Kris Dierickx -- Nature good and evil: a theological palette / Philip Hefner -- Nature good and evil: a theological evaluation / Wessel Stoker -- Quest for perfection: insights from Paul Tillich / Eduardo R. Cruz -- Normativity of nature: natural law in a technological life-world / Mathew Illathuparampil -- Exploring technonature with cyborgs / Anne Kull -- PART IV. VALUES AS EXPLANATION OR VALUES EXPLAINED? -- Two forms of explanation / Keith Ward -- Two forms of explanation: a response to Ward / Martien E. Brinkman -- Two forms of explanation: a response to Ward / Ronald Meester -- Evaluation of natural reality: a watertight case? / Edwin Koster -- 'Ought' in a world that just 'is' / Lindon B. Eaves -- What values guide our oughts? / Angela Roothaan -- Normative relevance of disputes in primatology / Tatjana Visak -- Evolutionary views on the biological basis of religion / Nico M. Van Straalen, Jair Stein -- On pattern recognition, evolution, epistemology, religion and evil / Mladen Turk

Includes bibliographical references and index.