The Rationality of Religious Belief

1
The Rationality of Religious Belief

• What reasons are there to believe that God or
  some supernatural force exists?
• The existence and order of the universe
• Miracles
• The very definition of God
• Meaningfulness in our lives

2
If Religious Belief is Unjustified, then Why Do
People Believe in God?
(1844-1900)
(1818-83)

• Karl Marx religion is our opium for dealing
  with socio-political alienation. God is the
  abstract idealization of humanity
• Friedrich Nietzsche God once was a fixed point
  of reference, but now not even science or truth
  is absolute. The death of God forces us to take
  responsibility for our lives and values

3
The Teleological Argument Argument from
Design/Purpose
William Paley (1743-1805)

• The order and intricacy of things in the universe
  make sense only if an ordering and purposive mind
  is their cause

• Analogy watch . . universe
• watchmaker . . universe-maker

4
Criticisms of the Teleological Argument David
Hume
(1711-76)

• Even the claim that the universe exhibits order
  is doubtful it is a human imposition
• We cannot use analogy in drawing inferences about
  the universe we do not experience universes or
  know that intelligent beings produce them. It all
  could simply be due to chance
• Even if we argue analogously, we cannot conclude
  that its creator is one, wise, good, or still
  existing

5
Criticism of the Design ArgumentCharles Darwin
(1809-82)

• Things in nature exhibit order, but that is not
  the result of design or purpose
• Natural selection things appear orderly because
  random variations produce adaptive individuals
• Objection (Fine Tuning Argument) intelligent
  design accounts for minute beneficial variations
• Reply random variations are adapted in ways that
  subsequently become advantageous