An Agnostic Defends God
Description
This book contains a unique perspective: that of a scientifically and philosophically educated agnostic who thinks there is impressive-if maddeningly hidden-evidence for the existence of God. Science and philosophy may have revealed the poverty of the familiar sources of evidence, but they generate their own partial defense of theism.
Bryan Frances, a philosopher with a graduate degree in physics, judges the standard evidence for God's existence to be awful. And yet, like many others with similar scientific and philosophical backgrounds, he argues that the usual reasons for atheism, such as the existence of suffering and success of science, are weak.
In this book you will learn why so many people with scientific and philosophical credentials are agnostics (rather than atheists) despite judging all the usual evidence for theism to be fatally flawed.
Reviews / Votes
"Written by an expert in the field, An Agnostic Defends God offers a lively, and fair-minded, discussion of the evidential basis for religious belief. Frances deftly covers this difficult intellectual terrain with his characteristically engaging writing style."- Duncan Pritchard , UC Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Irvine, USA.
"'I tell you naught for your comfort.' This line by G. K. Chesterton kept coming to mind as I read An Agnostic Defends God, by Bryan Frances. He offers disconcerting home truths to both Christians and atheists, and then he shows that agnostics should not be so self-satisfied either. A deeply wise discussion, moving rapidly back and forth across the landscape of religious/non-religious belief, stopping only to ask penetrating questions. Well worth reading."
- Michael Ruse , Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor and Director of HPS Program, Bristol University, UK
"Bryan Frances is an agnostic; I am an atheist. You might think that I won't have anything good to say about either Bryan or his book. Not so. Bryan's book is excellent and challenging. It may well unsettle your opinions about how theists, atheists and agnostics ought to think about the security of their own opinions and the competence of (at least) the best of those with whom they disagree."
- Graham Oppy , Professor of Philosophy, Monash University, Australia
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Person
Bryan Frances is Associate Professor of Philosophy at United Arab Emirates University, UAE.
Content
Chapter 1: Introduction: A Peculiar Defense of God.- Chapter 2: Rational Belief in God.- Chapter 3: Irrational Belief in God.- Chapter 4: The Design of Life and the Laws of Nature.- Chapter 5: The Origin of the Universe.- Chapter 6: The Problem of Suffering.- Chapter 7: Intractable Religious Disagreement.- Chapter 8: Why Advanced Science and Philosophy Support Humility.- Chapter 9: The Experience Argument for God.- Chapter 10: Two Troubles with Agnosticism.