Description
The growth of science and a correspondingly scientific way of looking at evidence have for the last three centuries slowly been gaining ground over religious explanations of the cosmos and mankind's place in it. However, not only is secularism now under renewed attack from religious fundamentalism, but it has also been widely claimed that the scientific evidence itself points strongly to a universe deliberately fine-tuned for life to evolve in it. In addition, certain aspects of human life, like consciousness and the ability to recognise the existence of universal moral standards, seem completely resistant to evolutionary explanation. In this book Colin Howson analyses in detail the evidence which is claimed to support belief in God's existence and argues that the claim is not well-founded. Moreover, there is very compelling evidence that an all-powerful, all-knowing God not only does not exist but cannot exist, a conclusion both surprising and provocative.
Argues that evidence purported to support a belief in God suggests our recognition of moral standards has an evolutionary explanation.
About the Author
Colin Howson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Hume's Problem: Induction and the Justification of Belief (2000), Logic with Trees (1997) and, with Peter Urbach, Scientific Reasoning: The Bayesian Approach (3rd edition, 2006).
Reviews
'Howson has provided us with an important, and at times challenging, book. Not only does it bring new atheism into the realm of academia proper, but it pushes strongly and unapologetically against the current trend in religious studies within the context of liberal political correctness to treat religious belief with immense delicacy, as unquestionable and above criticism. ... His moral argumentation is most compelling: the economy and directness of his discussion of practical consequences of belief in God and of acts committed in His name makes this an exciting and crucial work.' Allison Murphy, Journal of Religion and Culture
Book Information
ISBN 9780521186650
Author Colin Howson
Format Paperback
Page Count 232
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 370g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 11mm
Argues that evidence purported to support a belief in God suggests our recognition of moral standards has an evolutionary explanation.
About the Author
Colin Howson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of Hume's Problem: Induction and the Justification of Belief (2000), Logic with Trees (1997) and, with Peter Urbach, Scientific Reasoning: The Bayesian Approach (3rd edition, 2006).
Reviews
'Howson has provided us with an important, and at times challenging, book. Not only does it bring new atheism into the realm of academia proper, but it pushes strongly and unapologetically against the current trend in religious studies within the context of liberal political correctness to treat religious belief with immense delicacy, as unquestionable and above criticism. ... His moral argumentation is most compelling: the economy and directness of his discussion of practical consequences of belief in God and of acts committed in His name makes this an exciting and crucial work.' Allison Murphy, Journal of Religion and Culture
Book Information
ISBN 9780521186650
Author Colin Howson
Format Paperback
Page Count 232
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 370g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 11mm
