Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-02T18:27:19.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Are atheist worlds really the best?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2020

KIRK LOUGHEED Open the ORCID record for KIRK LOUGHEED [Opens in a new window]
KIRK LOUGHEED*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Humanities Building, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
*
e-mail: philosophy@kirklougheed.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Anti-theism is the view that God's existence would (or does) detract from the value of the world. A distinctive argument for anti-theism says that the very best atheist worlds are better than the best theist worlds. The reason for this is that it's possible to gain most or all of the benefits associated with theism in Godless worlds. For instance, worlds with a lesser god or several lesser gods can provide many of the benefits of theism without the associated disadvantages. While some work has been done to show that the advantages of theism can be had in atheist worlds, very little has been said regarding whether the disadvantages can simultaneously be avoided in such worlds. I aim to show that it is difficult to describe a possible atheist world where the benefits of theism obtain but the harms do not. I thus problematize this particular argument for anti-theism.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , June 2022 , pp. 345 - 358
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Betenson, T. (2018) ‘Recasting anti-theism’, in Kraay, K. J. (ed.) Does God Matter? Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism (New York: Routledge), 164–177.Google Scholar
Hendricks, P. & Lougheed, K. (2019) ‘Undermining the axiological solution to divine hiddenness’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 86, 3–15.10.1007/s11153-018-9693-yCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahane, G. (2011) ‘Should we want God to exist?’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 82, 674–696.10.1111/j.1933-1592.2010.00426.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahane, G. (2018) ‘If there is a hole, it is not God-shaped’, in Kraay, K. J. (ed.) Does God Matter? Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism (New York: Routledge), 95–131.Google Scholar
Kraay, K. J. (2018) ‘Invitation to the axiology of theism’, in Kraay, K. J. (ed.) Does God Matter? Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism (New York: Routledge), 1–36.Google Scholar
Lougheed, K. (2018a) ‘The axiological solution to divine hiddenness’, Ratio, 31, 331–341.10.1111/rati.12186CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lougheed, K. (2018b) ‘On the axiology of a hidden God’, European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 10, 79–95.10.24204/ejpr.v10i4.2521CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lougheed, K. (2020) The Axiological Status of Theism and Other Worldviews (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan).10.1007/978-3-030-54820-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metz, T. (2013) Meaning in Life: An Analytic Study (Oxford: Oxford University Press).10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199599318.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rescher, N. (1990) ‘On faith and belief’, in Rescher, N. (ed.) Human Interests (Stanford: Stanford University Press), 166–178.Google Scholar
Schellenberg, J. L. (2015) The Hiddenness Argument: Philosophy's New Challenge to Belief in God (Oxford: Oxford University Press).10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198733089.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tooley, M. (2018) ‘Axiology: theism versus widely accepted monotheisms’, in Kraay, K. J. (ed.) Does God Matter? Essays on the Axiological Consequences of Theism (New York: Routledge), 46–69.Google Scholar