The Rationality of Religious Belief

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What reasons are there to believe that God or some supernatural force exists?

• The existence and order of the universe • Miracles • The very definition of God • Meaningfulness in our lives

• If Religious Belief is Unjustified, then Why

Do

People Believe in God?

• (1818-83) Karl Marx: (1844-1900) religion is our “opium” for dealing with socio-political alienation. God is the abstract idealization of humanity Friedrich Nietzsche: God once was a fixed point of reference, but now not even science or truth is absolute. The death of God forces us to take responsibility for our lives and values

William Paley (1743-1805)

The Teleological Argument: Argument from Design/Purpose

 The order and intricacy of things in the universe make sense only if an ordering and purposive mind is their cause  Analogy: watch . . universe watchmaker . . universe-maker

Criticisms of the Teleological Argument: David Hume (1711-76)  Even the claim that the universe exhibits order is doubtful; it is a human imposition  We cannot use analogy in drawing inferences about the universe: we do not experience universes or know that intelligent beings produce them. It all could simply be due to chance  Even if we argue analogously, we cannot conclude that its creator is one, wise, good, or still existing

Criticism of the Design Argument: Charles Darwin (1809-82)  Things in nature exhibit

order

, but that is not the result of

design or purpose

 Natural selection: things appear orderly because random variations produce adaptive individuals 

Objection (Fine Tuning Argument):

intelligent design accounts for minute beneficial variations  Reply: random variations are adapted in ways that subsequently become advantageous