Purpose in the Universe: The Moral and Metaphysical Case for Ananthropocentric Purposivism, by Tim Mulgan: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. viii + 435, £50 (hardback).

Citation

Rennick S (2017) Purpose in the Universe: The Moral and Metaphysical Case for Ananthropocentric Purposivism, by Tim Mulgan: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. viii + 435, £50 (hardback).. Review of: Purpose in the Universe: The Moral and Metaphysical Case for Ananthropocentric Purposivism, by Tim Mulgan Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. viii (9780198822776). Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 95 (3), pp. 615-617. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048402.2016.1231697

Abstract
First paragraph: ‘Our universe is religiously ambiguous. It can be read in strikingly different ways’ [1]. So begins Mulgan's ambitious tome. What follows is a comprehensive presentation of one of the ways in which the universe can be read—a third option, located between theism and atheism—and how it fares against the argumentative arsenal of either side. Mulgan's middle way is Ananthropocentric Purposivism (AP): the view that the universe has a purpose, but that humanity is not it. Specifically, he argues for Normative AP, where this purpose ‘is a ground for objective values and external reasons that have normative significance for human beings’ [7].

Keywords
Metaphysics; Philosophy

Journal
Australasian Journal of Philosophy: Volume 95, Issue 3

People

Dr Steph Rennick

Lecturer in Digital Media (Interactive), Communications, Media and Culture