7 - Other Arguments
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 August 2009
Summary
The arguments discussed in this chapter are a grab-bag. In a truly exhaustive study, there would be no kind of argument for or against the existence of monotheistic gods not examined in preceding chapters that is not examined here. However, there are simply too many different arguments out there in the literature to make it feasible to attempt such a task here. I think that it is important to examine each argument that is proposed on its merits. Even if it is true that there are useful taxonomies of arguments for and against the existence of monotheistic deities, and even if it is true that there are criticisms that can be applied to whole families of these arguments, one needs to look carefully at each argument to determine where it belongs in the taxonomy that one has established.
I divide the arguments to be examined in this chapter into six kinds, the last of which is intended to pick up all of the arguments that fail to fall into the first five categories. In short, we shall consider: arguments from authority, arguments from religious experience, arguments from morality, arguments from miracles, arguments from consciousness, and arguments from ‘puzzling phenomena’. For each of these categories, we shall discuss a representative selection of arguments that can be found either in the current philosophical literature or in current debate more widely construed.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Arguing about Gods , pp. 331 - 413Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006