Introduction to Special APRA Issue

Abstract

Philosophy of religion, across the major philosophical centers of the West and across both the Anglo-American and Continental streams, has been undergoing a significant revival over the last few decades. This is evidenced by the many societies, journals, and monograph series that have recently been established, as well as the various conferences and seminars that have been hosted, with the aim of examining a range of topics within the philosophy of religion, or even the nature and goals of the discipline itself. This renewed academic interest in a subject that in the middle of the previous century was languishing as a philosophical relic of a bygone era has been supplemented by a renewed popular interest in religious matters, with religion now very much in the public sphere: from the ‘new atheist’ critiques to discussions of religious fundamentalism and the place of theology and religious institutions in a secular world. To capture this interest and to offer a platform for Australasian philosophers and scholars to contribute to the conversation, we decided to form the Australasian Philosophy of Religion Association (APRA), the first of its kind in Australia and New Zealand. SOPHIA (2009) 48:103–104 DOI 10.1007/s11841-009-0104-9