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X PHILOSOPHERS WITHOUT GODS LOUISE M. ANTONY editor Philosophers without Gods Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life 1 2007 3 OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.,publishesworksthatfurther OxfordUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellence inresearch,scholarship,andeducation. Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright#2007byOxford University Press,Inc. PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress,Inc. 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NewYork10016 www.oup.com OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise, withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress. Philosopherswithoutgods:meditationsonAtheismandthesecularlife/ [editedby] LouiseM.Antony. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN 978-0-19-517307-9 1. Atheism. I. Antony,LouiseM. BL2710.P452007 211'8—dc22 2007060082 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica onacid-freepaper X CONTENTS Introduction ix Acknowledgments xv Part One Journeys one Faith and Reason, the Perpetual War: Ruminations of a Fool 3 Stewart Shapiro two From Yeshiva Bochur to Secular Humanist 17 Joseph Levine three Religio Philosophi 32 Daniel Garber four For the Love of Reason 41 Louise M. Antony five Life without God: Some Personal Costs 59 Daniel M. Farrell six Overcoming Christianity 69 Walter Sinnott-Armstrong vi contents seven On Becoming a Heretic 80 Edwin Curley eight Mere Stranger 90 Marvin Belzer nine An Atheist’s Fundamentalism 104 James Tappenden ten Thank Goodness! 113 Daniel C. Dennett Part Two Reflections eleven Transcendence without God: On Atheism and Invisibility 121 Anthony Simon Laden twelve An Aristotelian Life 133 Marcia Homiak thirteen Without the Net of Providence: Atheism and the Human Adventure 150 Kenneth A. Taylor fourteen Disenchantment 165 David Owens fifteen Religion and Respect 179 Simon Blackburn sixteen Reasonable Religious Disagreements 194 Richard Feldman seventeen If God Is Dead, Is Everything Permitted? 215 Elizabeth Secord Anderson eighteen Divine Evil 231 David Lewis nineteen Meta-atheism: Religious Avowal as Self-Deception 243 Georges Rey twenty Faith and Fanaticism 266 Jonathan E. Adler contents vii Notes 287 References 299 Notes on Contributors 303 Index 307 This page intentionally left blank X INTRODUCTION Louise M. Antony Atheismisaminoritypositionintoday’sworld.Atleastinthepartsofthe globe accessible to pollsters, most people believe in God. The rate of theismhaslittletodowiththelevelofscientificortechnologicaldevel- opmentofthesocietyinquestion.Consider,forexample,theUnitedStates,where, despitethecountry’sconstitutionalcommitmenttothe‘‘separationofchurchand state,’’ most institutions of daily life are infused with theism.1 U.S. coins carry theproclamation‘‘InGodWeTrust,’’sessionsoftheU.S.Congressopenwitha prayerofferedbytheofficialcongressionalchaplain,andnationalandcivicleaders routinely invoke the name of God in campaign and policy speeches. Within this climate, skeptics and atheists are viewed with suspicion. We are presumed to be arrogant, devoid of moral sentiments, and insensitive to a wide varietyofhumangoods.Indeed,accordingtotheauthorsofarecentsurveyfrom the University of Minnesota, ‘‘Atheists are at the top of the list of groups that Americansfindproblematicinbothpublicandprivatelife.’’2Forty-sevenpercent ofthosesurveyedsaidthattheywould‘‘disapprove’’iftheirchild‘‘wantedtomarry amemberofthisgroup.’’3Thesurvey’sauthorshastentopointoutthattheseop- inions seemed not to reflect their respondents’ actual encounters with real, live atheists—mostpeopleinthesurveyclaimednottoknowany—butratherreflected astereotypicalconstruction,onethatlinkeddisbeliefwithegotism,consumerism, and ethical relativism. ix

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Atheists are frequently demonized as arrogant intellectuals, antagonistic to religion, devoid of moral sentiments, advocates of an "anything goes" lifestyle. Now, in this revealing volume, nineteen leading philosophers open a window on the inner life of atheism, shattering these common stereotypes a