Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

by Le Poidevin,Robin

• ISBN13: 9780415093378
• ISBN10: 0415093376
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-09-20
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Arguing for Atheismintroduces a wide range of topics in the philosophy of religion and metaphysics. Robin Le Poidevin does not simply defend a denial of God's existence; he presents instead a way of intepreting religious discourse which allows us to make sense of the role of religion in our spiritual and moral lives. Ideal as a textbook for university courses in the philosophy of religion and metaphysics,Arguing for Atheismis also designed to be accessible, in its style and its numerous explanations, to the general reader.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	x
Preface	xi
Acknowledgements	xiii
Introduction	xvii
Part I The limits of theistic explanation
Must the universe have a cause?	3	(14)
The mysteries of existence	3	(1)
A first cause?	4	(1)
The temporal and modal cosmological arguments	5	(4)
Problems with the first premise	9	(5)
Summary	14	(1)
Further reading	15	(2)
Is God necessary?	17	(16)
Possible worlds	17	(2)
The ontological argument	19	(5)
The modal ontological argument	24	(3)
God and modal realism	27	(4)
Summary	31	(1)
Further reading	32	(1)
Could the universe have an explanation?	33	(11)
A trivial explanation	33	(2)
Causes and causal explanations	35	(3)
Personal explanation	38	(2)
A necessary cause?	40	(1)
Summary	41	(1)
Further reading	42	(2)
Are we the outcome of chance or design?	44	(15)
Analogy and the teleological argument	44	(2)
Probability and the teleological argument	46	(3)
The concept of chance	49	(5)
The weak anthropic principle	54	(3)
Summary	57	(1)
Further reading	57	(2)
Does the universe have a purpose?	59	(14)
The strong anthropic principle	59	(2)
Teleology and causal reductionism: the selfish gene hypothesis	61	(5)
Teleology without causal reductionism	66	(2)
Summary	68	(1)
Further reading	69	(4)
Part II Moral arguments for atheism
Are God and ethics inseparable or incompatible?	73	(15)
Plato's dilemma	73	(3)
Descriptive versus prescriptive morality	76	(3)
Moral realism and moral subjectivism	79	(3)
Pluralism and autonomy	82	(3)
Summary	85	(1)
Further reading	86	(2)
Is there a problem of evil?	88	(19)
Disaster, depravity, deity and design	88	(3)
Determinism and human nature	91	(4)
Human freedom from the divine perspective	95	(4)
Can the theist refuse to answer the problem of evil?	99	(4)
Summary	103	(1)
Further reading	104	(3)
Part III Religion without God
Is God a fiction?	107	(17)
Realism, positivism and instrumentalism	107	(4)
Radical theology	111	(3)
Fiction and the emotions	114	(4)
Atheism and religious practice	118	(4)
Summary	122	(1)
Further reading	123	(1)
Is `Does God exist?'' a real question?	124	(11)
The deflationist argument	124	(4)
The argument applied to theism	128	(2)
Deflationism deflated?	130	(3)
Summary	133	(1)
Further reading	134	(1)
Should the atheist fear death?	135	(12)
Riddles of mortality	135	(1)
The river of time and the sea of ice	136	(4)
Death in the mirror	140	(3)
Immortality: real and vicarious	143	(2)
Summary	145	(1)
Further reading	146	(1)
Glossary	147	(5)
Bibliography	152	(3)
Index	155