It understates things to say of this Wayne State alum, that he is a very influential philosopher, not only in the field of philosophy of religion and Christian thought but in the hoary halls of metaphysics and modal logic. One suspects that every possible world (or at least the tolerably good ones) requires a "Big Al".
By all accounts he's a nice unassuming, warmly humorous man. Here's a taste:
Gotta love this bit from the story:
The program included a hilarious reading of Plantinga's famous "token-reflexive" definition of a "fundamentalist" as "a stupid (expletive deleted) whose theological beliefs are to the right of me and my enlightened friends." Plantinga's legendary resemblance to Abraham Lincoln was duly and wittily noted as well, and a song was written and performed for the occasion: "Hotel Possibilia," to the tune of "Hotel California," full of metaphysical in-jokes and allusions to Plantinga's emphasis on the importance of "possible worlds."
Brilliant. Let's hope YouTube videos are forthcoming.
If the account here is correct he's heading back to Michigan to teach at Calvin College.
Wait a minute...I thought he was retiring.
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