John Cottingham on Causes of Religious Belief

Comments due by 11:59pm this Sunday (9/1). 

In class we have been considering both religious realism and nonrealism. We've looked at a nonrealist sociological analysis of religion that seemingly attempts to show that religion is essentially a social phenomenon.

Here I want you to consider an interview with prominent philosopher John Cottingham.The video can be found here.

Consider what Cottingham has to say about various evolutionary and/or psychoanalytical explanations for religious belief. Do you find his replies plausible? Do they succeed? If not, why not? Do they apply equally forcefully (or fare just as badly) to sociological analyses of the causes of religious belief? Why or why not? What questions occurred to you as you listened to Cottingham? How might he respond to those questions? Any objections?

Take advantage of this opportunity to engage in good critical conversation with others. Consider carefully what others are saying, and press and challenge each other. Demand arguments and reasons. Ask questions. But always do so with grace, charity, and humility.

Welcome!

This is the course blog for Philosophy of Religion.

My hope is that each of you will participate thoughtfully and graciously in the conversations on this blog. The topics addressed in this course are crucial to a robust understanding of religious commitment. Consequently, we may be unwilling to consider carefully and charitably views that are different from our own or to take seriously objections to our beliefs.

This is unfortunate and tragic.

I should hope that on this blog we practice listening carefully to each other, expressing clearly and carefully our positions, and handling graciously criticisms raised against our beliefs. Doing so should help us all think harder and better about religion/religious belief in addition to thinking harder and better about who we are and how we are to engage the world.

I look forward to joining in conversation with each of you!