Is There a God? : A Debate PDF
Preview Is There a God? : A Debate
“Kenneth Pearce and Graham Oppy are frst-rate philosophers of religion. This book offers an engaging and fruitful dialogue between a theist and an atheist, addressing all key concepts and arguments in the contemporary debate on the existence of God. I recommend the book to all readers who are interested in studying both sides of the debate.” Yujin Nagasawa, H. G. Wood Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, University of Birmingham, UK “This exchange between Oppy and Pearce represents the fnest in philosophical inquiry. Together they create a new chandelier with structure and detail as they systematically discuss questions of worldview along the cutting edge of philosophical inquiry. Their exchange is professional, productive, and elegant.” Joshua Rasmussen, Department of Philosophy, Azusa Pacifc University, USA Is There a God? Bertrand Russell famously quipped that he didn’t believe in God for the same reason that he didn’t believe in a teapot in orbit between the earth and Mars: it is a bizarre assertion for which no evidence can be provided. Is belief in God really like belief in Russell’s teapot? Kenneth L. Pearce argues that God is no teapot. God is a real answer to the deepest question of all: why is there something rather than nothing? Graham Oppy argues that we should believe that there are none but natural causal entities with none but natural causal properties—and hence should believe that there are no gods. Beginning from this basic disagreement, the authors proceed to discuss and debate a wide range of philosophical questions, including questions about explanation, necessity, rationality, religious experience, mathematical objects, the foundations of ethics, and the methodology of philosophy. Each author frst presents his own side, and then they interact through two rounds of objections and replies. Pedagogical features include standard form arguments, section summaries, bolded key terms and principles, a glossary, and annotated reading lists. In the volume foreword, Helen De Cruz calls the debate “both edifying and a joy,” and sums up what’s at stake: “Here you have two carefully formulated positive proposals for worldviews that explain all that is: classical theism, or naturalistic atheism. You can follow along with the authors and deliberate: which one do you fnd more plausible?” Though written with beginning students in mind, this debate will be of interest to philosophers at all levels and to anyone who values careful, rational thought about the nature of reality and our place in it. Graham Oppy, FAHA, is Professor of Philosophy at Monash University in Australia. His authored books include Arguing About Gods (2006), Philosophical Perspectives on Infnity (2006), The Best Argument Against God (2013), Describing Gods (2014), Reinventing Philosophy of Religion (2014), Naturalism and Religion (2018), Atheism and Agnosticism (2018), and Atheism: The Basics (2019). Kenneth L. Pearce is Ussher Assistant Professor in Berkeley Studies at Trinity College Dublin. He has published extensively on philosophy of religion and the history of early modern philosophy, and was the winner of the 2016 Sanders Prize in Philosophy of Religion. He is the author of Language and the Structure of Berkeley’s World (2017) and co-editor (with Tyron Goldschmidt) of Idealism: New Essays in Metaphysics (2017). Helen De Cruz is Professor of Philosophy and the Danforth Chair in the Humanities at Saint Louis University, USA. Little Debates About Big Questions About the series: Philosophy asks questions about the fundamental nature of reality, our place in the world, and what we should do. Some of these questions are perennial: for example, Do we have free will? What is morality? Some are much newer: for example, How far should free speech on campus extend? Are race, sex and gender social constructs? But all of these are among the big questions in philosophy and they remain controversial. Each book in the Little Debates About Big Questions series features two professors on opposite sides of a big question. Each author presents their own side, and the authors then exchange objections and replies. Short, lively, and accessible, these debates showcase diverse and deep answers. Pedagogical features include standard form arguments, section summaries, bolded key terms and principles, glossaries, and annotated reading lists. The debate format is an ideal way to learn about controversial topics. Whereas the usual essay or book risks overlooking objections against its own proposition or misrepresenting the opposite side, in a debate each side can make their case at equal length, and then present objections the other side must consider. Debates have a more conversational and fun style too, and we selected particularly talented philosophers—in substance and style—for these kinds of encounters. Debates can be combative—sometimes even descending into anger and animosity. But debates can also be cooperative. While our authors disagree strongly, they work together to help each other and the reader get clearer on the ideas, arguments, and objections. This is intellectual progress, and a much-needed model for civil and constructive disagreement. The substance and style of the debates will captivate interested readers new to the questions. But there’s enough to interest experts too. The debates will be especially useful for courses in philosophy and related subjects—whether as primary or secondary readings— and a few debates can be combined to make up the reading for an entire course. We thank the authors for their help in constructing this series. We are honored to showcase their work. They are all preeminent scholars or rising-stars in their felds, and through these debates they share what’s been discovered with a wider audience. This is a paradigm for public philosophy, and will impress upon students, scholars, and other interested readers the enduring importance of debating the big questions. Tyron Goldschmidt, Fellow of the Rutgers Center for Philosophy of Religion, USA Dustin Crummett, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany Published Titles: Do We Have Free Will?: A Debate By Robert Kane and Carolina Sartorio Is There a God?: A Debate by Kenneth L. Pearce and Graham Oppy Is Political Authority an Illusion?: A Debate By Michael Huemer and Daniel Layman Selected Forthcoming Titles: Should We Want to Live Forever?: A Debate by Stephen Cave and John Martin Fischer Do Numbers Exist?: A Debate by William Lane Craig and Peter van Inwagen What Do We Owe Other Animals?: A Debate by Bob Fischer and Anja Jauernig For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/Little-Debates-about-Big-Questions/ book-series/LDABQ Is There a God? A Debate Graham Oppy and Kenneth L. Pearce First published 2022 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 Taylor & Francis The right of Graham Oppy and Kenneth L. Pearce to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-24393-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-24394-4 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-21679-7 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003216797 Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents Foreword: Worldview Comparison and Religious Commitment 1 HELEN DE CRUZ Opening Statements 9 1 Classical Theism: An Exposition and Defense 11 KENNY PEARCE 2 Are There Any Gods? 92 GRAHAM OPPY First Round of Replies 173 3 Reply to Graham Oppy 175 KENNY PEARCE 4 Reply to Kenny Pearce 218 GRAHAM OPPY Second Round of Replies 239 5 Reply to Graham’s Reply 241 KENNY PEARCE
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