Does God Exist?

A Commentary on this Question and this Edition

by

Mitch Hodge

This edition of THE EXAMINED LIFE is centered (obviously) around the question of God. It should come as no surprise; sooner or later the philosopher is going to turn his thoughts to the existence of God. This is evidenced by the voluminous amounts of philosophical texts on the topic written by the theist, atheist and agnostic alike. We (philosophers) are fascinated by the question, and we are often compelled to think that it is perhaps the most important question there is for philosophy to answer; for indeed all of eternity may hang in the balance.

For the majority western philosophy the belief in God was considered to be the product of reason. It has only been since the modern era that the God of faith has emerged to such a prominent place in philosophical thought. Theists believed that rational evidence for the existence of God abounded, and that only a fool (ala Anselm) would deny the same. In fact, so confident in this rational evidence was the Catholic Church, it would encourage their priests to contemplate and conjure contrary evidence and present it in the disputatio (regular debates on the existence of God where one priest would argue for the existence of God, and another would argue against). Strangely then, it is the believers themselves who first explored the atheistic side of the story.

Prior to David Hume it was not since ancient times that case for atheism was found to be compelling. In his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Hume examines the major arguments for the existence of God and finds them lacking. So thorough was Hume in his investigation of the subject for his time that he refuted the Watchmaker's argument twenty years before Paley penned it. Hume's worked launched philosophy of religion into a new era. No longer was the case for atheism presented to make the case for theism look the stronger, but now it was calling philosophers and theologians to task. If theism was indeed to carry the day, then it had better present itself as the more rational position otherwise reason dictated that the belief be "committed to the flames."

It was not until the theological considerations of Luther that it first entered human consciousness that belief in God was the product of sola fides (faith alone), and it was not until the writings of Kierkegaard that philosophers began to inquire whether the question of God could be answered decisively by reason. Today, strange as it may sound, rational arguments are given to support faith in God. Fideist, as they are called, argue that there are no good reasons to believe in God, and in fact we should not even look for them; we are called to belief in God by faith, and faith alone. To base the belief in God on reason, they claim, is to put reason before God, and to always have the belief subject to revision or annihilation. It is only through faith that one can truly secure belief in God.

Agnosticism has been frowned upon by many philosophers. It is sometimes seen as a lack of commitment rather than a true philosophical position. Be that here nor there, agnostics would tend to agree with Kierkegaard that reason cannot bring us to God, but they do not acknowledge the route of faith either. Nor do they think that reason would have us proclaim, "God is dead!" They survey the middle ground of the fight and are often ducking blows or referring. Agnosticism is also found to be the fall back position of some philosophers. Russell, for instance, could be considered as an atheist in regards to the Christian God, but an agnostic when it came to God in general.

Debates between theists and atheists can at times be so heated that they rival the fires of Hell itself, and at other times they can seem to be over such trivial questions that one might wonder what is at stake at all. Yet, regardless of the temperature of the arguments, it is often the case that how the philosopher answers the question of God is paramount to all of his other philosophical holdings. As illustration of this point, I recall when I was an undergraduate in philosophy (not all that long ago, so this is no six foot of snow memory), we students used to amuse ourselves in history of philosophy survey courses wondering when the current philosopher we were studying was going to "let his inner light shine" (as we picked up from St. Augustine). This meant we knew that the philosopher was either going to begin his philosophy with the question of God, infuse it with the same, or end on the topic. One way or the other, God was a central issue of discussion, and at times the glue which held the entire philosophy together. In the present day, with the specialization of fields, some of that sentiment in philosophy is lacking, and some contemporary philosophers hardly, if at all, broach the subject of God.

Perhaps some of this might be due to the last glowing embers of logical positivism which forced metaphysical considerations into dark corners of university hallways. But unlike those days when empiricism reigned supreme, most today would not agree that the question of God is meaningless. Though philosophy of religion no longer has it dominant position which it once held, it is regaining its stature by a new breed of philosophical theist who is well informed not only in doctrines of the Church and philosophy, but also in science. In fact, unlike the beginnings of last century where it was usually the atheist who used science to support his position, today it is usually the theist who brandishes the empirical sword. With the likes of Richard Swinburne and Alvin Plantinga philosophical theism has undergone reinforcement and once again is a strong rational force with which to be reckoned.

Yet no matter where one falls in the spectrum of belief, there is sure to be something which appeals to them in this issue. Collected herein are philosophical approaches to the existence of God from a variety of different avenues. Whether or not you find there is reason to believe in God, the articles in this edition will not leave you without reason to understand why the question is so important even still to philosophy and philosophers.

Thank you for your time and your interest in THE EXAMINED LIFE,

Mitch

Mitch Hodge is a graduate student, philosopher, and classicist.  He also serves as the Events Coordinator at The Philosophers' Magazine, and he is the executive editor of The Examined Life On-Line Philosophy Journal.

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