Arguing about gods

471 Pages·2006·2.932 MB·English

by  Oppy, Graham

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ArguingaboutGods
Inthisbook,GrahamOppyexaminescontemporaryargumentsfor
andagainsttheexistenceofGod.Heshowsthatnoneoftheseargu-
ments is powerful enough to change the minds of reasonable par-
ticipants in debates on the question of the existence of God. His
conclusion is supported by detailed analyses of the contemporary
arguments,aswellasbythedevelopmentofatheoryaboutthepur-
pose of arguments, and the criteria that should be used in judging
whetherornotargumentsaresuccessful.Oppydiscussestheworkof
awidearrayofphilosophers,includingAnselm,Aquinas,Descartes,
Locke,Leibniz,Kant,Hume,and,morerecently,Plantinga,Dembski,
White,Dawkins,Bergman,Gale,andPruss.
Graham Oppy is Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Arts
at Monash University. He is the author of Ontological Arguments and
BeliefinGod andPhilosophicalPerspectivesonInfinity.HeisanAssociate
Editor of the Australasian Journal of Philosophy, and he serves on the
editorial boards of Philo, Philosopher’s Compass, Religious Studies, and
Sophia.
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Arguing about Gods
GRAHAM OPPY
MonashUniversity
iii
cambridge university press
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521863865
©GrahamOppy2006
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006
isbn-13 978-0-511-24484-1eBook (ebrary)
isbn-10 0-511-24484-3 eBook (ebrary)
isbn-13 978-0-521-86386-5hardback
isbn-10 0-521-86386-4 hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls
forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
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Inmemoryofmyfather,
EdmundThomas(Ted)Oppy
December15,1929–May31,1999
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Contents
Preface page ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xv
1. PreliminaryConsiderations 1
1.1. ArgumentsabouttheExistenceofMonotheisticGods 2
1.2. Arguments 6
1.3. SomeConsiderationsaboutAgnosticism 15
1.4. ParallelCasesfor‘Alternative’Deities 35
2. OntologicalArguments 49
2.1. My‘GeneralObjection’Reconsidered 50
2.2. MereologicalOntologicalArguments 59
2.3. Go¨del’sOntologicalArgument 70
2.4. OnThatThanWhichNoWorseCanBeConceived 72
2.5. ConcludingRemarks 96
3. CosmologicalArguments 97
3.1. SomeInitialConsiderations 97
3.2. Aquinas’FirstThreeWays 98
3.3. Descartes’CausalArgument 107
3.4. Leibniz’sArgument 119
3.5. MeyerandtheAxiomofChoice 123
3.6. KoonsandContingency 125
3.7. Gale,Pruss,and‘Weak’SufficientReason 130
3.8. CraigandtheKala¯mArguments 137
3.9. Smith’sAtheologicalCosmologicalArguments 154
3.10.ConcludingRemarks 168
4. TeleologicalArguments 174
4.1. BiologicalDesign:Paley 174
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viii Contents
4.2. BiologicalDesign:Behe 187
4.3. CosmicFine-Tuning 200
4.4. Hume’sCriticismsofArgumentsforDesign 228
4.5. ConcludingRemarks 240
5. Pascal’sWager 241
5.1. TheArgument 241
5.2. SomeObjectionstotheArgument 243
5.3. ObjectionsInvolvingInfinity 249
5.4. ModifiedWagers 255
5.5. ConcludingRemarks 258
6. ArgumentsfromEvil 259
6.1. PreliminaryConsiderations 260
6.2. ‘Logical’ArgumentsfromEvil 262
6.3. EvidentialArgumentsfromEvil(co-writtenwithMichael
J.Almeida) 289
6.4. TheProblemofHeaven(co-writtenwithYujinNagasawa
andNickTrakakis) 314
6.5. ConcludingRemarks 329
7. OtherArguments 331
7.1. ArgumentsfromAuthority 332
7.2. ArgumentsfromReligiousExperience 345
7.3. ArgumentsfromMorality 352
7.4. ArgumentsfromMiracles 376
7.5. ArgumentsfromConsciousness 382
7.6. ArgumentsfromPuzzlingPhenomena 401
8. ConcludingRemarks 414
8.1. Clifford 416
8.2. James 422
8.3. ConcludingRemarks 425
References 427
Index 445