Developments in Philosophy of Religion

Abstract This chapter examines developments in philosophy of religion during the second half of the nineteenth century. It begins by considering the nature of the challenge posed by Darwin’s theory of evolution which forms the backdrop to this era. Next the chapter explores the development of agnosticism, as seen in T. H. Huxley or Leslie Stephen, and the growth of atheism, as seen in Marx, G. J. Holyoake, Charles Bradlaugh, or Constance Naden, before moving on to consider the very different ‘metaphysical’ response offered by the British Idealists. From a list of its problems and its rivals one might suppose that towards the end of the nineteenth century traditional theism was a creed in trouble, but in fact it saw something of a renaissance during this period as is demonstrated by the work of figures such as Robert Flint, Charles Voysey, Henry Calderwood, Frances Wedgwood, and Arabella Buckley.