Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the

Arguing for Atheismintroduces a wide range of topics in the philosophy of religion and metaphysics. Robin Le Poidevin does not simply defend a denial of God's existence; he presents instead a way of intepreting religious discourse which allows us to make sense of the role of religion in our spiritual and moral lives. Ideal as a textbook for university courses in the philosophy of religion and metaphysics,Arguing for Atheismis also designed to be accessible, in its style and its numerous explanations, to the general reader.

List of illustrations

x

Preface

xi

Acknowledgements

xiii

Introduction

xvii

Part I The limits of theistic explanation

Must the universe have a cause?

3

(14)

The mysteries of existence

3

(1)

A first cause?

4

(1)

The temporal and modal cosmological arguments

5

(4)

Problems with the first premise

9

(5)

Summary

14

(1)

Further reading

15

(2)

Is God necessary?

17

(16)

Possible worlds

17

(2)

The ontological argument

19

(5)

The modal ontological argument

24

(3)

God and modal realism

27

(4)

Summary

31

(1)

Further reading

32

(1)

Could the universe have an explanation?

33

(11)

A trivial explanation

33

(2)

Causes and causal explanations

35

(3)

Personal explanation

38

(2)

A necessary cause?

40

(1)

Summary

41

(1)

Further reading

42

(2)

Are we the outcome of chance or design?

44

(15)

Analogy and the teleological argument

44

(2)

Probability and the teleological argument

46

(3)

The concept of chance

49

(5)

The weak anthropic principle

54

(3)

Summary

57

(1)

Further reading

57

(2)

Does the universe have a purpose?

59

(14)

The strong anthropic principle

59

(2)

Teleology and causal reductionism: the selfish gene hypothesis

61

(5)

Teleology without causal reductionism

66

(2)

Summary

68

(1)

Further reading

69

(4)

Part II Moral arguments for atheism

Are God and ethics inseparable or incompatible?

73

(15)

Plato's dilemma

73

(3)

Descriptive versus prescriptive morality

76

(3)

Moral realism and moral subjectivism

79

(3)

Pluralism and autonomy

82

(3)

Summary

85

(1)

Further reading

86

(2)

Is there a problem of evil?

88

(19)

Disaster, depravity, deity and design

88

(3)

Determinism and human nature

91

(4)

Human freedom from the divine perspective

95

(4)

Can the theist refuse to answer the problem of evil?

99

(4)

Summary

103

(1)

Further reading

104

(3)

Part III Religion without God

Is God a fiction?

107

(17)

Realism, positivism and instrumentalism

107

(4)

Radical theology

111

(3)

Fiction and the emotions

114

(4)

Atheism and religious practice

118

(4)

Summary

122

(1)

Further reading

123

(1)

Is `Does God exist?'' a real question?

124

(11)

The deflationist argument

124

(4)

The argument applied to theism

128

(2)

Deflationism deflated?

130

(3)

Summary

133

(1)

Further reading

134

(1)

Should the atheist fear death?

135

(12)

Riddles of mortality

135

(1)

The river of time and the sea of ice

136

(4)

Death in the mirror

140

(3)

Immortality: real and vicarious

143

(2)

Summary

145

(1)

Further reading

146

(1)

Glossary

147

(5)

Bibliography

152

(3)

Index

155

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Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

Summary

Table of Contents

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