God’s Existence and the Kantian Formula of Humanity

Lemos, John

doi:10.1007/s11841-016-0511-7

Cited by 2 publications

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“… 3 3 Toby Betenson (2018), Stephen Maitzen (2018), and Erik J. Wielenberg (2018) have all joined Kahane in defending anti‐theism in a single volume. John Lemos (2017) argues for a similar conclusion, and quite recently, Kirk Lougheed (2020) has developed this position at length. …”

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confidence: 85%

“…This is, of course, the kind of thing that motivates Kant’s famous principle of humanity, which instructs us to treat persons as ends in themselves. Here is how John Lemos describes that principle: “To treat someone as an end involves respecting his autonomy—respecting his capacity to decide for himself what he wants to do and how he wants to live and allowing him to decide and live as he sees fit for himself” (2017, p. 265). Lemos, like Kahane, believes that theism will undermine this very important principle.…”

Section: Kahane and The Threat Of Theismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…have all joined Kahane in defending anti-theism in a single volume. JohnLemos (2017) argues for a similar conclusion, and quite recently, KirkLougheed (2020) has developed this position at length.4 Given the nature of the solution on offer, another important source worthy of consideration is the work of Martin Buber-although space considerations prevent me from exploring his ideas.5 In his earlier work, he mentions a third value: our comprehension, which would have an essential upper limit, given the existence of a being who is in some sense beyond it (2011, p. 682, see alsoMaitzen, 2018). I will not pursue this topic here.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Anti‐theism, the underground man, and escaping absurdity

Anderson

2022

The Philosophical Forum

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Guy Kahane is an unripened Underground Man. Or so I wish to suggest here.The stimulus for this remark is a fascinating recent essay by Kahane which argues that, whether or not theism is true, there are ways in which it would be better if theism were false (2018, but see also his 2011). Kahane's thesis goes by the moniker "anti-theism," and it appears to have a growing population of adherents. Thomas Nagel surprised many people a quarter of a century ago by his pronouncement that he did not want God to exist (1997), suggesting that his was not an isolated preference. 1 Earlier, Nagel's seminal article on absurdity (1971) argued (among other things) that God's existence would be incapable of providing a solution to the greatest challenge we encounter regarding meaning in life, and his comments there have been influential enough to filter down to popular introductory philosophy textbooks for university undergraduates. 2 A growing chorus of voices oppose the notion that God provides life with its meaning, and others have now offered the stronger claim that the very existence of God may be undesirable. 3 Kahane is, perhaps, the most eloquent representative of this stronger view, and we can learn a great deal from his work. But one thing that we learn is that the general tenor of his remarks has antecedents-and one of them, I suggest, is the perspective of the fictional narrator of Dostoevsky's famous Notes from Underground. In this work, however, the values which motivate this perspective are presented in a distressingly negative light, as presenting grounds for ultimate despair. Indeed, they may aggravate the very absurdity which Nagel addresses in his famous

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Anti‐theism, the underground man, and escaping absurdity

Anderson

2022

The Philosophical Forum

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“…55 Lemos (2016) has relatedly argued that if theism is true, then we humans are treated by God merely as means to some good end-a conclusion that Lemos sees as supporting a kind of Kantian antitheism.…”

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If There Is a Hole, It Is Not God-Shaped

Kahane¹

2017

Does God Matter?

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God’s Existence and the Kantian Formula of Humanity

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Anti‐theism, the underground man, and escaping absurdity

Anti‐theism, the underground man, and escaping absurdity

If There Is a Hole, It Is Not God-Shaped

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