The Best Argument Against God

102 Pages·2013·0.44 MB·English

by  Graham Oppy

The Best Argument against God
ISBN: 9781137354143
DOI: 10.1057/9781137354143
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DOI: 10.1057/9781137354143
10.1057/9781137354143 - The Best Argument against God, Graham Oppy
Also by Graham Oppy
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS AND BELIEF IN GOD (1996)
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON INFINITY (2006)
ARGUING ABOUT GODS (2006)
THE HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION (co-edited with
Nick Trakakis, 2009)
READING PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION (with Michael Scott, 2010)
A COMPANION TO PHILOSOPHY IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (co-edited
with Nick Trakakis, 2010)
THE ANTIPODEAN PHILOSOPHER VOLUME 1: Public Lectures on Philosophy in 01
Australia and New Zealand (co-edited with Nick Trakakis, and with Lynda Burns, 11-
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Steve Gardner and Fiona Leigh, 2011) 1
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THE ANTIPODEAN PHILOSOPHER VOLUME 2: Interviews with Australian and New ct -
Zealand Philosophers (co-edited with Nick Trakakis, and with Lynda Burns, Steve Gardner, ne
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Fiona Leigh and Michelle Irving, 2012) Co
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DOI: 10.1057/9781137354143
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DOI: 10.1057/9781137354143
10.1057/9781137354143 - The Best Argument against God, Graham Oppy
© Graham Oppy 2013
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication
may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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First published 2013 by 11-
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10.1057/9781137354143 - The Best Argument against God, Graham Oppy
Contents
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Preface vi 1
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Introduction 1 n
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1 Preliminary Matters 4 gra
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2 Some Big Ideas 11 ss -
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3 Minimal Theism and Naturalism 18 Trial
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4 Standard Theism and Naturalism 67 ct.c
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Conclusion 87 ec
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Index 91 w.p
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Preface
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This book is intended to be an introduction to one of the 11-
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central parts of philosophy of religion, namely, the discus- 01
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sion of arguments about the existence of God. Given its ct -
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length, this book does not aim to provide a comprehensive on
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introduction even to this part of philosophy of religion: ve
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rather, it assumes a particular conception of God, and al
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develops a single argument in connection with that con- s -
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ception of God. cc
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The book was written during my employment at Monash al
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University, while I was Head of the School of Philosophical, m -
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Historical and International Studies. I am grateful to the ct.c
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University, and more particularly to my colleagues in the nn
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Faculty of Arts, for support that enabled me to work on ec
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the book while carrying out my other institutional duties. gr
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As always, I could not have completed this book without w.
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the support of my immediate family: special thanks and m
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love to Camille, Gilbert – who also provided detailed com- al fr
ments on my first draft – Calvin and Alfie. eri
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vi DOI: 10.1057/9781137354143
10.1057/9781137354143 - The Best Argument against God, Graham Oppy
Introduction
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Oppy, Graham. The Best Argument against God. 11-
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Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. 01
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DOI: 10.1057/9781137354143 1
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2 The Best Argument against God
Our question is the existence of God; we shall consider this question in
the context of dispute between theists – those who suppose that God
exists – and naturalists – those who suppose that there is nothing super-
natural. Our method will be to examine as much as we can of the relevant
evidence, in order to try to determine whether theism or naturalism
makes a better fit with that evidence. Because much of the putatively
relevant evidence has been worked up into arguments for and against
the existence of God, we shall also have cause to present and comment
upon a range of those arguments.
Before we can turn to our examination of the relevant evidence, there 1
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are some preliminary matters to which we shall need to attend. First, we 1
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need to get clear about what we mean by ‘theism’ and ‘naturalism’, and by 20
associated terms (such as ‘God’ and ‘the natural world’). Second, we need ct -
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to have a clear account of the method that we shall use in order to decide on
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whether theism or naturalism makes a better fit with the pieces of evi- av
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dence that we consider. And third, there are some big questions – about al
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the scope of possibility, about causation and chance, about freedom and s -
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determinism, and about the objectivity of morality – upon which we cc
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shall need to make some initial comments before we can commence our Trial
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The discussion that we present suggests a novel ‘cumulative’ argument ct.
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against the existence of God. In the end, I do not defend the suggested nn
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‘cumulative’ argument. However, the argument is worth considering ve
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because (i) it has evident advantages over other kinds of ‘cumulative’ algr
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arguments that have been previously discussed, and (ii) it is, at least in my w.
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estimation, the strongest extant argument about the existence of God. m
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References and further reading ht
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Useful general resources for philosophy: Oxford Bibliographies Online C
(http://oxfordbibliographiesonline.com/), the Stanford Encyclopaedia
of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/), the Routledge Encyclopaedia
of Philosophy (http://www.rep.routledge.com/) and the Philosopher’s
Index (http://philindex.org/).
Essential reading on arguments about the existence of God: Richard
Swinburne (1979) The Existence of God Oxford: Clarendon; John
Mackie (1982) The Miracle of Theism Oxford: Clarendon; and Jordan
Howard Sobel (2004) Logic and Theism Cambridge: Cambridge
DOI: 10.1057/9781137354143
10.1057/9781137354143 - The Best Argument against God, Graham Oppy