Objecting to God

234 Pages·2012·1.804 MB·English

by  Howson, Colin

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OBJECTING TO GOD
Thegrowthofscience,andacorrespondinglyscientificwayoflook-
ingatevidence,haveforthelastthreecenturiesslowlybeengaining
groundoverreligiousexplanationsofthecosmosandmankind’splace
init.However,notonlyissecularismnowunderrenewedattackfrom
religious fundamentalism, but also it has been widely claimed that
thescientificevidenceitselfpointsstronglytoauniversedeliberately
fine-tunedforlifetoevolveinit.Inaddition,certainaspectsofhuman
life, like consciousness and the ability to recognise the existence of
universalmoralstandards,seemcompletelyresistanttoevolutionary
explanation. In this book Colin Howson analyses in detail the evi-
dencewhichisclaimedtosupportbeliefinGod’sexistence,andargues
thattheclaimisnotwellfounded.Moreover,thereisverycompelling
evidence that an all-powerful, all-knowing God not only does not
existbutcannotexist,aconclusionbothsurprisingandprovocative.
colin howson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of
Toronto,andEmeritusProfessor,LondonSchoolofEconomicsand
PoliticalScience.HeistheauthorofHume’sProblem:Inductionand
the Justification of Belief (2000), Logic with Trees (1997) and, with
PeterUrbach,ScientificReasoning:TheBayesianApproach(3rdedition,
2006).

OBJECTING TO GOD
COLIN HOWSON
UniversityofToronto
cambridge university press
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Firstpublished2011
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Howson,Colin.
ObjectingtoGod/ColinHowson.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-521-76835-1(hardback)–isbn978-0-521-18665-0(paperback)
1.God–Proof. 2.Religion–Controversialliterature.
3.Scienceandreligion. I.Title.
bl200.h69 2011
211(cid:3).7–dc22 2011013514
isbn978-0-521-76835-1Hardback
isbn978-0-521-18665-0Paperback
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inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch
websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Thefoolhathsaidinhisheart,ThereisnoGod.
Psalm14:1

Contents
Preface pageix
Acknowledgments x
1 Ofhumanbondage 1
2 Godunlimited 35
3 Howtoreasonifyoumust 64
4 Thewell-tempereduniverse 91
5 Whatdoesitallmean? 114
6 Moralequilibrium 136
7 WhatislifewithoutThee? 171
8 Itnecessarilyain’tso 194
Bibliography 211
Index 217
vii