The existence and nature of God: contributions from Latin America

The special issue The Existence and Nature of God: Contributions from Latin America collects a selection of seven papers of Latin American philosophers concerning the existence and nature of God.Between 2019 and 2022 twenty projects were funded by the John Templeton Foundation, supporting the research of more than thirty philosophers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay.It is not easy to characterize precisely what is or might be a Latin American perspective on philosophy of religion.Latin American culture has been from its beginning a mestizo culture that integrates a European Christian heritage with an indigenous frame of mind.In many parts of Latin America there is also a strong African influence.So, multiculturality and pluralism of perspectives are not novelties.They have been the base situation from the foundation of the young mestizo societies across the Andes, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, or in the La Plata River basin.It is also worth noting that there is a Latin American philosophical and theological production since, at least, the sixteenth century.The first universities in Lima (Peru 1551), Mexico (1553), and Salvador de Baha (Brazil, 1553) had chairs of Philosophy and Theology from their inceptions.These were followed by other institutions in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil, 1567), Bogot (Colombia, 1580), Crdoba (Argentina, 1613), and Santiago (Chile, 1622).So, it is no surprise, for example, that an important part of the production in philosophy of religion is still today a philosophical discussion that begins with a contemporary appropriation of Thomas Aquinas.There is a tradition of four centuries of reflection in philosophical theology and metaphysics that is alive nowadays.The articles in this special issue show this diversity of perspectives, the importance of the received Latin American tradition, as well as the impact that modern science has for our worldview.They can be divided into three groups dealing with three main topics.The works of the first group address the justification of theistic belief (Bertato, Warman and de Brasi, Silvestre).The works of the second group consider the nature of God and its consequences (Huneeus, Spica).The articles of the third group examine the impact and value of natural science for our understanding of God, and a theistic conception of reality (Silva and Recio, Marques Segundo, and also Warman and de Brasi).In relation to the justification of theistic belief, Bertato, Warman and de Brasi, and Silvestre consider a range of issues from the a priori plausibility of the concept of 'God' to the kind of evidence that would be relevant for a justification.