Philosophy of Religion

Michael Lacewingenquiries@alevelphilosophy.co

.uk

Two central questions• What does it mean to talk of, or believe

in, God?– Is talk about God talk about something that

exists independently of us? Or a way of talking about life?

– Does ‘God exists’ state something that can be true or false? Or express an attitude?

• Does God exist?– Can we answer this question by argument?

THE NATURE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND LANGUAGE

Belief-that• Standard analysis: content + attitude• Content: what the person believes, given

by a proposition– E.g. ‘He believes that elephants are grey.’

• Belief-that aims at truth:– To believe that p is to believe that p is true.

• ‘I believe him’ = – ‘I believe that what he says is true’– ‘I believe that he is trustworthy/sincere’

Belief in• ‘I believe in God’ = ‘I believe that

God exists’?• ‘I believe in love’• Not belief-that (no truth claim), but

faith, trust, commitment

Religious belief• Does belief in God presuppose belief

that God exists?– Yes: you can’t believe in a person if you

think they don’t exist– No: you don’t have believe that love exists

(literally) to believe in love• What is more basic in religious belief?

Should belief-that be analysed as (really) belief-in or vice-versa?

Does ‘God exists’ state a fact?

• Not tested against empirical experience

• Not purely intellectual• Theism not acquired by argument or

evidence• Religious ‘belief’ is belief-in, an

attitude or commitment, towards life, others, history, morality… a way of living.

Objections• Different religions can prescribe similar ways

of life while arguing for different beliefs about God– Orthodoxy (right belief) has been thought very

important• What supports or justifies the attitude if not

beliefs about how things are?• Perhaps religions distinguished by their

stories– But stories don’t justify commitments

• This approach makes religion too subjective

Traditional belief• ‘God exists’ is objectively true or

false.• ‘God’ refers to a being (in some

sense) that exists independently of us, and has certain attributes.– Monotheism: perfect knowledge,

power, goodness, creator of the universe…

Faith• So: can we know whether God exists?

– Belief in God = faith• What is faith based on?

– Reason: at least reason can justify faith, even if it doesn’t often cause it

– Revelation: scripture– (Religious) Experience: mundane and

miraculous

Approaches• Pope John Paul II: rational knowledge and

philosophical discourse are important for ‘the very possibility of belief in God’.

• Richard Swinburne: The Coherence of Theism: God’s existence is probable, considering all the evidence.

• Extreme ‘fideism’: sin has damaged our ability to reason, so ignore reason.

• Moderate ‘fideism’: faith goes ‘beyond’ reason, but doesn’t oppose it.

Objection• Many religious believers think that they do

have some reason to believe in God.• But they are willing to accept that the

evidence for God’s existence is not very strong, so they say it is a matter of faith.

• This seems inconsistent: it accepts belief in God is a matter of evidence and argument, but that we don’t need to justify our conclusion by the balance of evidence.

DOES GOD EXIST?

Amazement• Two natural phenomena often inspire

amazement in us: the night sky and life

• The first is vast, awesome• The second is wonderful and intricate• Philosophers can also be amazed that

we can understand the world at all

Life• Organs serve a purpose –

heart – pump blood; eye – seeing– We understand parts of an

organ in relation to serving this purpose

• A living organism requires huge coordination of tiny parts each functioning well – complexity

Design• Complexity of this kind, the way

parts work together, can indicate planning and design – intentional purpose

• If life involves design, by definition, there must be a designer

• But are living organisms designed?

Evolution by natural selection

• Darwin explained how the appearance of design is possible without design

• Genetic alterations happen randomly; most disappear. But those that improve reproduction survive and spread in a population, altering the species

• Such alterations are not actually ‘selected’ – natural forces secure their survival

Starry sky

The ‘fine tuning’ argument

• Why do we live in a universe in which life (and evolution) is possible?

• The conditions for life are very, very improbable. Life needs planets, and planets need stars.

• For stars to exist, the conditions of the Big Bang (how big, how much bang) had to be exact to 1/1060

1 in 1060

• 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 percent– As precise as hitting a one-inch target on the

other side of the universe• That’s for stars– life is even more

improbable• Of course, if God designed the universe to

develop life, this is not a massive coincidence

Does the universe need explaining?

• The lottery argument– It’s incredibly unlikely, before the draw, that

whoever wins will win. – But someone will win.– With enough chances, the incredibly

unlikely can become inevitable.• If there are lots of universes, one of

them would have the right conditions for life.

More questions• What explains why and how the

universe – any universe – exists in the first place?

• What is the best explanation for religious experience and miracles?

• If God is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing, why does evil and suffering occur?