Arguing for atheism : an introduction to the philosophy of religion /
Saved in:
| Author / Creator: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Imprint: | London ; New York : Routledge, 1996. |
| Subjects: | |
| Retention: | Retained for Eastern Academic Scholars' Trust (EAST) http://eastlibraries.org/retained-materials |
Table of Contents:
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I. The Limits of Theistic Explanation
- 1. Must the Universe Have a Cause?
- 1.1. The mysteries of existence
- 1.2. A first cause
- 1.3. The temporal and modal cosmological arguments
- 1.4. Problems with the first premise
- 1.5. Summary Further reading
- 2. Is God Necessary?
- 2.1. Possible worlds
- 2.2. The ontological argument
- 2.3. The modal ontological argument
- 2.4. God and modal realism
- 2.5. Summary Further reading
- 3. Could the Universe Have an Explanation?
- 3.1. A trivial explanation
- 3.2. Causes and casual explanations
- 3.3. Personal explanation
- 3.4. A necessary cause?
- 3.5. Summary Further reading
- 4. Are We the Outcome of Chance or Design?
- 4.1. Analogy and the teleological argument
- 4.2. Probability and the teleological argument
- 4.3. The concept of chance
- 4.4. The weak anthropic principle
- 4.5. Summary Further reading
- 5. Does the Universe Have a Purpose?
- 5.1. The strong anthropic principle
- 5.2. Teleology and casual reductionism: the selfish gene hypothesis
- 5.3. Teleology without casual reductionism
- 5.4. Summary Further reading
- Part II. Moral Arguments for Atheism
- 6. Are God and Ethics Inseparable or Incompatible?
- 6.1. Plato's dilemma
- 6.2. Descriptive versus prescriptive morality
- 6.3. Moral realism and moral subjectivism
- 6.4. Pluralism and autonomy
- 6.5. Summary Further reading
- 7. Is there a Problem of Evil?
- 7.1. Disaster, depravity, deity and design
- 7.2. Determinism and human nature
- 7.3. Human freedom from the divine perspective
- 7.4. Can the theist refuse to answer the problem of evil?
- 7.5. Summary Further reading
- Part III. Religion without God
- 8. Is God a Fiction?
- 8.1. Realism, positivism and instrumentalism
- 8.2. Radical theology
- 8.3. Fiction and the emotions
- 8.4. Atheism and religious practice
- 8.5. Summary Further reading
- 9. Is 'Does God Exist?' a real Question?
- 9.1. The deflationist argument
- 9.2. The argument applied to theism
- 9.3. Deflationism deflated?
- 9.4. Summary Further reading
- 10. Should the Atheist Fear Death?
- 10.1. Riddles of morality
- 10.2. The river of time and the sea of ice
- 10.3. Death in the mirror
- 10.4. Immortality: real and vicarious
- 10.5. Summary
- Further reading Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index