The Improbability of God - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591023815 ISBN 13: 9781591023814

Verlag: Prometheus Books, 2006

Inhaltsangabe

A growing number of powerful arguments have been formulated by philosophers and logicians in recent years demonstrating that the existence of God is improbable. These arguments assume that God's existence is possible but argue that the weight of the empirical evidence is against God's actual existence.
This unique anthology collects most of the important arguments for the improbability of God that have been published since the mid-1900s. The editors make each argument clear and accessible by providing a helpful summary. In addition, they arrange this diverse collection of arguments for the improbability of God into four thematic groups: Part 1 contains cosmological arguments based on the weight of the evidence relative to the origin of the universe; Part 2 presents teleological arguments based on the weight of the evidence relative to the order in the universe; Part 3 deals with inductive evil arguments based on the weight of the evidence relative to the widespread and horrendous evil in the world; and Part 4 contains nonbelief arguments based on the weight of the evidence relative to the widespread nonbelief or the reasonable nonbelief in the world.
The list of distinguished authors includes William Rowe, Theodore Drange, Quentin Smith, Victor Stenger, J. L. Schellenberg, and Michael Martin, among others. With this new anthology as a companion to their earlier anthology, The Impossibility of God (2003), Martin and Monnier have created an indispensable resource in the philosophy of religion.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Michael Martin is professor emeritus of philosophy at Boston University and author of numerous books, including Atheism: A Philosophical Justification; Atheism, Morality, and Meaning; and The Big Domino in the Sky and Other Atheistic Tales.
Ricki Monnier (Ph.D. in mathematical logic) is director of The Disproof Atheism Society.

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the improbability of GOD

Prometheus Books

Copyright © 2006 Michael Martin and Ricki Monnier
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-59102-381-4

Contents

PREFACE.........................................................................................................11GENERAL INTRODUCTION............................................................................................13PART 1. COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF GODIntroduction....................................................................................................171. The Scientific Case against a God Who Created the Universe Victor J. Stenger................................212. The Big Bang Argument for the Existence of God Theodore Schick Jr............................................303. Atheism, Theism, and Big Bang Cosmology Quentin Smith........................................................414. A Defense of the Cosmological Argument for God's Nonexistence Quentin Smith..................................615. Big Bang Cosmology and Atheism Quentin Smith.................................................................826. Stephen Hawking's Cosmology and Theism Quentin Smith........................................................867. Why Stephen Hawking's Cosmology Precludes a Creator Quentin Smith............................................94PART 2. TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF GODIntroduction....................................................................................................1071. The Argument from Scale Nicholas Everitt.....................................................................1112. The Anthropic Coincidences: A Natural Explanation Victor J. Stenger..........................................1253. The Anthropic Principle Does Not Support Supernaturalism Michael Ikeda and Bill Jefferys.....................1504. Religion and Science: A New Look at Hume's Dialogues Wesley C. Salmon........................................1675. Experimental Atheism Wesley C. Salmon........................................................................1946. Atheistic Teleological Arguments Michael Martin..............................................................1987. Neither Intelligent nor Designed Bruce and Frances Martin....................................................2158. The Improbability of God Richard Dawkins.....................................................................223PART 3. INDUCTIVE EVIL ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF GODIntroduction....................................................................................................2311. An Atheological Argument from Evil Natural Laws Quentin Smith................................................2352. The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism William L. Rowe............................................2503. Evil and Theodicy William L. Rowe............................................................................2624. The Evidential Argument from Evil: A Second Look William L. Rowe.............................................2755. Reply to Plantinga William L. Rowe...........................................................................3026. Skeptical Theism: A Response to Bergmann William L. Rowe.....................................................3117. An Indirect Inductive Argument from Evil Michael Martin 3198. An Argument from Non-Gratuitous Evil Thomas Metcalf..........................................................328PART 4. NONBELIEF ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE EXISTENCE OF GODIntroduction....................................................................................................3371. The Argument from Nonbelief Theodore M. Drange...............................................................3412. McHugh's Expectations Dashed Theodore M. Drange..............................................................3573. Bolstering the Argument from Nonbelief Victor Cosculluela....................................................3624. The Arguments from Confusion and Biblical Defects Theodore M. Drange.........................................3695. The Argument from Ignorance Walter Sinnott-Armstrong.........................................................3806. The Real Argument from Ignorance Walter Sinnott-Armstrong....................................................3857. An Argument for Atheism from the Reasonableness of Nonbelief J. L. Schellenberg..............................3908. Response to Howard-Snyder J. L. Schellenberg.................................................................4059. Divine Hiddenness Justifies Atheism J. L. Schellenberg......................................................413APPENDIXThe Ideas of the Divinity Paul Thiry d'Holbach..................................................................427

Chapter One

THE SCIENTIFIC CASE AGAINST A GOD WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE

VICTOR J. STENGER

Presented here is an argument based on modern physics and cosmology against the existence of a God who created the universe. It can be summarized as follows:

1. Hypothesize a God who is the highly intelligent and powerful supernatural creator of the physical universe.

2. We can reasonably expect that empirical evidence should exist for a purposeful and supernatural creation of this cosmos, such as the observed violation of one or more laws of physics.

3. No empirical evidence for a purposeful and supernatural creation of the cosmos can be found. No universal laws of physics were violated at the origin of the universe in which we reside.

4. Modern cosmology indicates that the initial state of our universe was one of maximum chaos so that it contains no memory of a creator.

5. Scientists can provide plausible, purely natural scenarios based in well-established cosmological theories that show how our universe may have arisen out of an initial state of nothingness.

6. We can conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that a God who is the highly intelligent and powerful supernatural creator of the physical universe does not exist.

From a modern scientific perspective, what are the empirical and theoretical implications of a supernatural creation? We need to seek evidence that (1) the universe had an origin and (2) that origin cannot have happened naturally. One sign of a supernatural creation would be a direct empirical confirmation that a miracle was necessary in order to bring the universe into existence. That is, cosmological data should either show evidence for one or more violations of well-established laws of nature or the theories that successfully describe those data should require some causal ingredient that cannot be understood in purely material or natural terms.

Now, as philosopher David Hume pointed out centuries ago, many problems exist with the whole notion of miracles. Three types of possible miracles can be identified: (1) violations of established laws of nature, (2) inexplicable events, and (3) highly unlikely coincidences.

If a violation of an established law of nature is observed, then we might more reasonably surmise that the law was wrong rather than conclude that an occurrence of divine intervention has taken place. If we simply define a miracle as an inexplicable occurrence, then how can we be sure that an explanation will not someday be found? If we view some highly unlikely coincidence as a miracle, how can we know it still was not a random accident? These pose serious questions for anyone arguing from miracles to the existence of...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Prometheus Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2006
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1591023815
• ISBN 13: 9781591023814
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 432
• Herausgeber: Martin Michael, Monnier Ricki
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Simon and Schuster Netherlands BV; info@simonandschuster.nl; ; Herculesplein 96; Utrecht; 3584 AA; Niederlande