Can religious arguments persuade?

Faust, Jennifer

doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8377-8_7

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The assumption is that by going from premises to conclusions, either deductively or inductively, an individual reasoner can form a considered opinion about God's existence. Another view (reviewed by Faust) proposes a more social dimension of natural theology; it holds that natural theological arguments are formulated with the aim of rationally persuading others to accept a particular religious outlook. However, both views are implausible.…”

Section: Cultural Factors That Promote the Development Of Natural Thementioning

confidence: 99%

The Enduring Appeal of Natural Theological Arguments

Cruz

2014

Philosophy Compass

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Natural theology is the branch of theology and philosophy that attempts to gain knowledge of God through non‐revealed sources. In a narrower sense, natural theology is the discipline that presents rational arguments for the existence of God. Given that these arguments rarely directly persuade those who are not convinced by their conclusions, why do they enjoy an enduring appeal? This article examines two reasons for the continuing popularity of natural theological arguments: (i) they appeal to intuitions that humans robustly hold and that emerge early in cognitive development; (ii) they serve an argumentative function by presenting particular religious views as live options. I conclude with observations on the role of natural theology in contemporary analytic philosophy of religion.

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Section: Cultural Factors That Promote the Development Of Natural Thementioning

confidence: 99%

The Enduring Appeal of Natural Theological Arguments

Cruz

2014

Philosophy Compass

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“… See, for instance, JONES (2015), 83-84. 9 As Ratcliffe indicates, his concept of existential feeling draws upon ideas such as "mood" (Stimmung) and "attunement" (Befindlichkeit) discussed in Martin Heidegger's Being and Time.10 On the issue of persuasion in regard of religious arguments seeFAUST (2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

Pluralism is not Enough for Tolerance. Philosophical and Psychological Reflections on Pluralism and Tolerance

Gasser

2022

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The issue of religious tolerance is increasingly raised in a globalized world with societies becoming more and more religiously diverse and inhomogeneous. Religious tolerance can be defined as the practice of accepting others as acting in accordance with their religious belief system. Philosophers have recently begun to study more thoroughly the relationship between religious pluralism and religious (in)tolerance with a main focus on the epistemic question of whether the recognition of and reflection on religious pluralism might lead to greater religious tolerance. The major thrust of this idea is that any genuine reflection of a person about her epistemic peers adhering to other religions will weaken the person’s epistemic justificatory basis for believing that her own religious beliefs are better warranted than the religious beliefs of her peers. The rational consequence of the recognition of this justificatory fact, in turn, should lead to more religious tolerance and to a weakened dismissive attitude towards adherents of other religions. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the plausibility of this account against the background of existing empirical, in particular psychological literature: Does increased contact with adherents of other religious traditions indeed lead to more tolerance? How are we able to show a deeper understanding for people with different religious beliefs and to take on—at least partially—their perspective? What are potential psychological obstacles to these achievements? Resources from research on intergroup toleration, social identity-theories, developmental psychology and personality traits will be used for tackling these questions. This shall help to broaden the so far rather narrow epistemic philosophical perspective on religious pluralism and (in)tolerance by embedding it into the larger context of constitutive traits of the human psyche.

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“…If the premises on which these arguments depend rely on intuitions that are widespread, why do atheists and agnostics disagree about their conclusions? Religious arguments may be question-begging in a doxastic sense (Faust 2008). Although they are not strictly speaking circular (i.e., they do not contain their conclusions in their premises), reasoners accept their premises more readily if they also accept their conclusions.…”

Section: Early-developed Intuitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Philosophers Evaluate Natural Theological Arguments? An Experimental Philosophical Investigation

Cruz¹,

Smedt²

Advances in Religion, Cognitive Science, and Experimental Philosophy

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This paper provides an empirical study of how religious belief influences the views of philosophers about natural theological arguments. Philosophers rated eight arguments for and eight arguments against theism. We find a correlation between religious belief and the perceived strength of arguments: atheists tend to find arguments against theism stronger and arguments for theism weaker; theists evaluate arguments for theism as stronger than arguments against theism. The assessments of agnostics fall between those of theists and atheists. Other factors that correlate with the perceived strength of the arguments are philosophical specialization and gender. We examine the potential role of confirmation bias, early-developed intuitions, philosophical expertise and gender differences to explain our findings.

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Can religious arguments persuade?

Cited by 3 publications

References 2 publications

The Enduring Appeal of Natural Theological Arguments

The Enduring Appeal of Natural Theological Arguments

Pluralism is not Enough for Tolerance. Philosophical and Psychological Reflections on Pluralism and Tolerance

How Do Philosophers Evaluate Natural Theological Arguments? An Experimental Philosophical Investigation

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