Philosophy of Religion - Speaker Deck

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Philosophy of Religion reason, faith, belief and doubt George Matthews Spring 2017

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Perspectives on Religion

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Perspectives on Religion

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Perspectives on Religion ! From inside: what religious beliefs or practices should I adhere to as someone aware of the mystery of life and death?

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Perspectives on Religion ! From inside: what religious beliefs or practices should I adhere to as someone aware of the mystery of life and death? ! From outside: how can we understand religion as disinterested observers? religious studies: what are the practices, beliefs and histories of various religions? sociology: how do religions work as institutions expressing shared values and how do they relate to other social institutions?

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What philosophers ask about religion

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What philosophers ask about religion metaphysical questions

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What philosophers ask about religion 1. Does God exist? If so in what sense – as separate from nature, identical with nature, or in some other way? metaphysical questions

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What philosophers ask about religion 1. Does God exist? If so in what sense – as separate from nature, identical with nature, or in some other way? 2. Do any “spiritual things” such as gods, souls, disembodied spirits, demons or ghosts exist or is the universe and everything in it purely material stuﬀ? metaphysical questions

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What philosophers ask about religion epistemological questions

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What philosophers ask about religion 1. What evidence might establish the existence of a God? epistemological questions

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What philosophers ask about religion 1. What evidence might establish the existence of a God? 2. What is the relation between reason and faith in general and what does this tell us about religion? 3. Does religious experience warrant religious belief? epistemological questions

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What philosophers ask about religion value-theory questions

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What philosophers ask about religion 1. Are religious beliefs or institutions necessary for social order? value-theory questions

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What philosophers ask about religion 1. Are religious beliefs or institutions necessary for social order? 2. Can we have morality without religion? value-theory questions

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What philosophers ask about religion 1. Are religious beliefs or institutions necessary for social order? 2. Can we have morality without religion? 3. Is religion a purely private matter or should it play a public role in modern societies? value-theory questions

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Varieties of Religious Belief

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Varieties of Religious Belief Is there such a thing as God or the gods?

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Varieties of Religious Belief Is there such a thing as God or the gods? Yes. This general answer deﬁnes what it means to be THEIST.

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Varieties of Religious Belief Is there such a thing as God or the gods? Yes. A single God exists. monotheism This is what we often think of when we think of religion – the idea that there is one all- powerful God, an idea common to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

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Varieties of Religious Belief Is there such a thing as God or the gods? Yes. A single God exists. monotheism There are many gods. polytheism Historically monotheism grew out of polytheism. Polytheism is alive and well in India in the form of Hinduism.

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Varieties of Religious Belief Is there such a thing as God or the gods? Yes. A single God exists. monotheism There are many gods. polytheism An impersonal creator God exists. deism God is in all things. pantheism No. God does not exist. atheism You might think that a negative conclusion like this cannot be proved, but the argument from evil tries to do so.

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Varieties of Religious Belief Is there such a thing as God or the gods? Yes. A single God exists. monotheism There are many gods. polytheism An impersonal creator God exists. deism God is in all things. pantheism No. God does not exist. atheism Maybe. We don’t or can’t know if God exists. agnosticism Is this the most reasonable position to take, or are there strong arguments in favor of or against belief? Buddhism might be considered an agnostic religion.

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Classic Arguments for Theism

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Classic Arguments for Theism St. Thomas Aquinas 1225 – 1274

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Classic Arguments for Theism St. Thomas Aquinas 1225 – 1274 God is evident in basic facts about the world of our experience.

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Classic Arguments for Theism St. Thomas Aquinas 1225 – 1274 God is evident in basic facts about the world of our experience. St. Thomas Aquinas was an important ﬁgure in the history of the Catholic Church. He combined the conceptual framework of Greek philosophy, especially Aristotle, with the core beliefs of Medieval Christianity. His ideas continue to provide the basis for contemporary Catholic philosophy and theology.

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Classic Arguments for Theism St. Thomas Aquinas 1225 – 1274 God is evident in basic facts about the world of our experience. Whatever exists has a cause. The universe as a whole exists. So there must be a cause for the universe existing and this cause is God. the cosmological argument

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Classic Arguments for Theism Whatever exists has a cause. The universe as a whole exists. So there must be a cause for the universe existing and this cause is God. the cosmological argument This argument is VALID, but is it SOUND? Are the premises true?

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Classic Arguments for Theism Whatever exists has a cause. The universe as a whole exists. So there must be a cause for the universe existing and this cause is God. the cosmological argument According to quantum physics maybe not since some things can just happen.

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Classic Arguments for Theism Whatever exists has a cause. The universe as a whole exists. So there must be a cause for the universe existing and this cause is God. the cosmological argument Is there any reason why the universe could not have existed forever?

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Classic Arguments for Theism Whatever exists has a cause. The universe as a whole exists. So there must be a cause for the universe existing and this cause is God. the cosmological argument Even given that the universe has a cause, why must this cause be God?

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Classic Arguments for Theism

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Classic Arguments for Theism William Paley c. 1743 – 1805

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Classic Arguments for Theism William Paley c. 1743 – 1805 The work of God is evident in the complexity of the natural world.

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Classic Arguments for Theism William Paley c. 1743 – 1805 The work of God is evident in the complexity of the natural world. William Paley was an inﬂuential English Protestant minister of the 18th Century. His arguments are still popular among contemporary “creationists” and backers of “intelligent design theory.”

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Classic Arguments for Theism William Paley c. 1743 – 1805 The work of God is evident in the complexity of the natural world. If we found a watch on a deserted island we would conclude that it was designed by an intelligent person. Likewise with living organisms – they too are best explained by a designer Thus a God who designed and created living organisms must exist. the teleological argument

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Classic Arguments for Theism If we found a watch on a deserted island we would conclude that it was designed by an intelligent person. Likewise with living organisms – they too are best explained by a designer Thus a God who designed and created living organisms must exist. the teleological argument This is an “argument to the best explanation” which claims that the best explanation for the complexity of living things is that there is a God who created them.

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Classic Arguments for Theism If we found a watch on a deserted island we would conclude that it was designed by an intelligent person. Likewise with living organisms – they too are best explained by a designer Thus a God who designed and created living organisms must exist. the teleological argument To see whether this is true we need to know whether there are other workable explanations.

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Classic Arguments for Theism If we found a watch on a deserted island we would conclude that it was designed by an intelligent person. Likewise with living organisms – they too are best explained by a designer Thus a God who designed and created living organisms must exist. the teleological argument Charles Darwin argued that there is a better explanation – evolution by natural selection.

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Classic Arguments for Theism

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Classic Arguments for Theism St. Anselm c. 1033 – 1101

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Classic Arguments for Theism St. Anselm c. 1033 – 1101 Reason alone can convince us to believe that God exists.

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Classic Arguments for Theism St. Anselm c. 1033 – 1101 Reason alone can convince us to believe that God exists. Anselm of Canterbury was born in France but ascended through the ranks of the Medieval Church to become Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church in England. His philosophical work was an early attempt to systematize Church doctrine and establish it on a rational basis.

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Classic Arguments for Theism St. Anselm c. 1033 – 1101 Reason alone can convince us to believe that God exists. We can imagine a perfect being. If this being did not exist, it would lack something and thus not be perfect. Thus a perfect being (God) must exist. the ontological argument

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Classic Arguments for Theism We can imagine a perfect being. If this being did not exist, it would lack something and thus not be perfect. Thus a perfect being (God) must exist. the ontological argument This argument is an example of a reductio ad absurdum in that it claims that the opposite of what it is trying to prove – the non-existence of a being deﬁned as perfect – makes no sense.

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Classic Arguments for Theism We can imagine a perfect being. If this being did not exist, it would lack something and thus not be perfect. Thus a perfect being (God) must exist. the ontological argument This argument seems to be cheating – can we really conclude anything about reality based just on our deﬁnition of the concept “perfect being?”

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Classic Arguments for Theism We can imagine a perfect being. If this being did not exist, it would lack something and thus not be perfect. Thus a perfect being (God) must exist. the ontological argument Is existence really a feature of things in the way this argument seems to require?

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Classic Arguments for Theism We can imagine a perfect being. If this being did not exist, it would lack something and thus not be perfect. Thus a perfect being (God) must exist. the ontological argument What does this very abstract idea of a perfect being have to do with the God of religion?

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An Argument for Atheism

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An Argument for Atheism David Hume c. 1711 – 1776

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An Argument for Atheism David Hume c. 1711 – 1776 What can we really know based on the available evidence?

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An Argument for Atheism David Hume c. 1711 – 1776 What can we really know based on the available evidence? David Hume was a major figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He sought to apply the scientific method to the study of human knowledge. This often led him to skeptical conclusions about how much we really can claim to know. He is now recognized as a pioneer in cognitive psychology as well being an influential philosopher.

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An Argument for Atheism David Hume c. 1711 – 1776 What can we really know based on the available evidence? If there is an all-powerful, all- knowing and all-good God, then evil should not exist. But there clearly is evil in the world. This gives us a strong reason to doubt the existence of such a God. the argument from evil

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An Argument for Atheism If there is an all-powerful, all- knowing and all-good God, then evil should not exist. But there clearly is evil in the world. This gives us a strong reason to doubt the existence of such a God. the argument from evil This argument is VALID, but is it SOUND? Are the premises true?

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An Argument for Atheism If there is an all-powerful, all- knowing and all-good God, then evil should not exist. But there clearly is evil in the world. This gives us a strong reason to doubt the existence of such a God. the argument from evil The existence of evil could be explained away if God either couldn’t do anything about it, did not know or did not care to stop it.

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An Argument for Atheism If there is an all-powerful, all- knowing and all-good God, then evil should not exist. But there clearly is evil in the world. This gives us a strong reason to doubt the existence of such a God. the argument from evil The fact of undeserved evil, such as childhood disease, presents a big challenge to the theist.

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An Argument for Atheism If there is an all-powerful, all- knowing and all-good God, then evil should not exist. But there clearly is evil in the world. This gives us a strong reason to doubt the existence of such a God. the argument from evil The theist must respond by showing that there is a good reason for evil in the world.

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An Argument for Atheism If there is an all-powerful, all- knowing and all-good God, then evil should not exist. But there clearly is evil in the world. This gives us a strong reason to doubt the existence of such a God. the argument from evil The most popular defense of God is the appeal to free will - God made us free to choose good or evil and this requires evil in the world.

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An Alternate Argument for Theism

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An Alternate Argument for Theism Blaise Pascal 1623 – 1662

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An Alternate Argument for Theism Blaise Pascal 1623 – 1662 We are all compelled to gamble.

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An Alternate Argument for Theism Blaise Pascal 1623 – 1662 We are all compelled to gamble. Blaise Pascal was a mathematician and deeply religious philosopher. He was one of the inventors of probability theory and applied probabalistic reasoning to the question of religious belief.

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An Alternate Argument for Theism Blaise Pascal 1623 – 1662 We are all compelled to gamble. We have no conclusive evidence for the existence or non-existence of God. But the risk of not believing in case God exists –punishment in hell– far out- weighs whatever beneﬁt we might get from not believing should God not exist. Thus we have a strong reason to believe that God exists. Pascal’s wager

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An Alternate Argument for Theism We have no conclusive evidence for the existence or non-existence of God. But the risk of not believing in case God exists –punishment in hell– far out- weighs whatever beneﬁt we might get from not believing should God not exist. Thus we have a strong reason to believe that God exists. Pascal’s wager This argument is a practical argument which looks at the potential payoﬀs of belief as opposed to unbelief.

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An Alternate Argument for Theism We have no conclusive evidence for the existence or non-existence of God. But the risk of not believing in case God exists –punishment in hell– far out- weighs whatever beneﬁt we might get from not believing should God not exist. Thus we have a strong reason to believe that God exists. Pascal’s wager Given the diﬃculties presented by the other arguments, this seems correct.

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An Alternate Argument for Theism We have no conclusive evidence for the existence or non-existence of God. But the risk of not believing in case God exists –punishment in hell– far out- weighs whatever beneﬁt we might get from not believing should God not exist. Thus we have a strong reason to believe that God exists. Pascal’s wager Even if the probability of God’s existence is very low, the inﬁnite penalty involved in not believing should God actually exist is too great to ignore.

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An Alternate Argument for Theism We have no conclusive evidence for the existence or non-existence of God. But the risk of not believing in case God exists –punishment in hell– far out- weighs whatever beneﬁt we might get from not believing should God not exist. Thus we have a strong reason to believe that God exists. Pascal’s wager Is this a reason to believe or just a motive for believing? And can we believe whatever we may want or feel the need to believe?

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The Buddhist Perspective

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The Buddhist Perspective Siddhartha Gautama c. 563 – c. 483 BCE

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The Buddhist Perspective Siddhartha Gautama c. 563 – c. 483 BCE What we believe about ultimate questions is less important than how we live.

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The Buddhist Perspective Siddhartha Gautama c. 563 – c. 483 BCE What we believe about ultimate questions is less important than how we live. Siddhartha Guatama, “the Buddha,” was an Indian prince who left a comfortable life to seek a solution to the human predicament. He claimed to ﬁnd one in a way of life emphasizing self-knowledge, ethical action and contemplation of the impermanent nature of things.

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The Buddhist Perspective Siddhartha Gautama c. 563 – c. 483 BCE What we believe about ultimate questions is less important than how we live. Arguing about the nature of God, the soul, life after death is like arguing about the details of the arrow after having been shot with one. It is far more important to pull the arrow out than worry about who shot it and from how far away. The same is true of religious practice – it is intended to overcome suﬀering not answer ultimate questions. the parable of the arrow

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The Buddhist Perspective Arguing about the nature of God, the soul, life after death is like arguing about the details of the arrow after having been shot with one. It is far more important to pull the arrow out than worry about who shot it and from how far away. The same is true of religious practice – it is intended to overcome suﬀering not answer ultimate questions. the parable of the arrow Buddhism is often considered to be a religion, but it is non-theistic in that it holds that God or the gods are not relevant for resolving the diﬃculties with being human.

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The Buddhist Perspective Arguing about the nature of God, the soul, life after death is like arguing about the details of the arrow after having been shot with one. It is far more important to pull the arrow out than worry about who shot it and from how far away. The same is true of religious practice – it is intended to overcome suﬀering not answer ultimate questions. the parable of the arrow Metaphysical questions may be interesting, but perhaps they are besides the point.

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The Buddhist Perspective Arguing about the nature of God, the soul, life after death is like arguing about the details of the arrow after having been shot with one. It is far more important to pull the arrow out than worry about who shot it and from how far away. The same is true of religious practice – it is intended to overcome suﬀering not answer ultimate questions. the parable of the arrow Human beings seek to get to the root of the diﬃculties of living and dying. Religion is one response to this.

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The Buddhist Perspective Arguing about the nature of God, the soul, life after death is like arguing about the details of the arrow after having been shot with one. It is far more important to pull the arrow out than worry about who shot it and from how far away. The same is true of religious practice – it is intended to overcome suﬀering not answer ultimate questions. the parable of the arrow In spite of its lack of concern for religious belief, Buddhism shares with other religions a sense of the sacredness and mystery of life.