Critiques of god

Description

There is no anthology in the philosophy of religion that exclusively presents the case against God. This one does. Anthologies have favored religious beliefs or they have presented a mixture of arguments, pro and con, usually favoring the former. The selections here make explicit the basic criticisms of the God concept and some of its related paraphernalia. They reveal the many modes of reasoning involved in theorizing about God. The authors are all well known in philosophy. They write sincerely, candidly and honestly about the issues in a straightforward, “no-holdsbarred” fashion. They were chosen for these qualities. Contents PREFACE xi I. INTRODUCTION AND A GENERAL CRITIQUE PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS OF ATHEISM 3 Ernest Nagel II. THE GOD CONCEPT MODERN KNOWLEDGE AND THE CONCEPT OF GOD 21 Sidney Hook III. ARGUMENTS FOR GOD’S EXISTENCE THE COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT 43 PaulEdwards THE ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN 59 Wallace I. Matson IV. FAITH AND REASON GOD AND REASON 95 Michael Scriven RELIGION AND REASON 115 Richard Robinson V. MYSTICISM THE CORE OF RELIGION 127 Walter Kaufmann VI. RELIGION AND THE RELIGIOUS THE FUTURE OF AN ILLUSION 143 SigmundFreud AN ANALYSIS OF SOME TYPES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE 155 Erich Fromm RELIGION VERSUS THE RELIGIOUS 183 John Dewey VII. GOD AND THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL GOD AND EVIL 203 H. J. McCloskey VIII. GOD AND A FATED UNIVERSE DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE AND HUMAN FREEDOM 227 Antony Flew IX. ETHICS WITHOUT GOD MORALITY AND THE WILL OF GOD 241 KaiNielsen X. GOD AND SURVIVAL OF THE PERSONALITY AFTER DEATH THE ILLUSION OF IMMORTALITY 261 Corliss Lamont XI. WHY DO THINGS EXIST? THE MEANING OF LIFE 293 Kurt E. M. Baler XII. SCIENCE AND THE RELIGIOUS IMPULSE COSMIC PURPOSE 335 Bertrand Russell MALICIOUS PHILOSOPHIES OF SCIENCE 351 Ernest Nagel BIBLIOGRAPHY 369