Transcript Volitional Arguments for Religious Belief: William James

The Rationality of Religious Belief
 What reasons are there to believe that
God or some supernatural force exists?
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Miracles
The very definition of God
The existence and order of the universe
Meaningfulness in our lives
Why Miracles Cannot Justify
Religious Belief:
David Hume (1711-76)
We should proportion our beliefs to what we
experience. Testimony of others should be
doubted as improbable if witnesses:
• are few in number, contradict one
another, have an interest in persuading
us, are either hesitant or zealous, or
contradict our normal experience
Hume: Religion Is Based on Faith,
not Irrational Belief in Miracles
• Miracles are violations of laws of nature
• Belief in miracles requires that we believe
it more reasonable to think that the order
of the universe has been violated than that
we are (pleasantly) mistaken or have been
deceived by (well-intentioned) enthusiasts
• Reports of miracles are more common
among the primitive cultures
Religion is our “opium” for dealing
with socio-political alienation:
Karl Marx (1818-83)
• God is really the idealization of humanity as
alienated, unconscious of itself
• Such alienation is caused by thinking of
humanity and nature as abstractions rather
than as products of real activity and labor
• Real life is not atheistic, for even denying that
God exists depends on thinking abstractly
“God is Dead”:
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
• God once served as a fixed point of reference,
but now nothing—not even science or truth—
is absolute
• People refuse to acknowledge the death of
God because it requires that they affirm their
responsibility for their lives and values