3.11.2

Secularism - Richard Dawkins

Test yourself

The Rise of Secularism: Richard Dawkins

Dawkins argues that religion is not based upon rationality but is the product of wishful thinking and blind faith.

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Teapot sun analogy

  • Dawkins likens belief in God to randomly supposing that there is a teapot circling the sun (an example that was first used by Bertrand Russell).
  • Dawkins believes that there is simply no reason to believe in God’s existence and plenty of contrary evidence such as the existence of evil.
    • Philosophical arguments for the problem of evil as disproving God’s existence come from Mackie and, originally, Epicurus.
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Dangers of religion

  • Dawkins argues that religion is not only blind and irrational but also dangerous.
  • It causes wars, misery, death and prevents the progress of science.
  • People commit suicide in the name of religion and destroy other people, including unbelievers and those of different faiths, in the process.
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Concerned with fundamentalism

  • Dawkins is concerned by the rise of Christian fundamentalism.
  • This approach causes the greatest harm to scientific advancement about the origin of the universe.
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Anti-creationists

  • Dawkins acknowledges: “I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”
  • Dawkins has creationists in mind, who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible and think that evolution is false.
  • Creationists typically refuse to accept science when they think it conflicts with their interpretation of the Bible.

Jump to other topics

1Philosophy of Religion

1.1Ancient Philosophical Influences: Plato

1.2Ancient Philosophical Influences: Aristotle

1.3Ancient Philosophical Influences: Soul, Mind, Body

1.4The Existence of God - Arguments from Observation

1.5The Existence of God - Arguments from Reason

1.6Religious Experience

1.7The Problem of Evil

1.8The Nature & Attributes of God

1.9Religious Language: Negative, Analogical, Symbolic

1.10Religious Language: 20th Century Perspective

2Religion & Ethics

3Developments in Christian Thought

3.1Saint Augustine's Teachings

3.2Death & the Afterlife

3.3Knowledge of God's Existence

3.4The Person of Jesus Christ

3.5Christian Moral Principles

3.6Christian Moral Action

3.7Development - Pluralism & Theology

3.8Development - Pluralism & Society

3.9Gender & Society

3.10Gender & Theology

3.11Challenges

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