The wisdom to doubt : a justification of religious skepticism / J.L. Schellenberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schellenberg, J. L., 1959-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion--Philosophy.

Religion.

Belief and doubt.

Skepticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (342 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Wisdom to Doubt is a major contribution to the contemporary literature on the epistemology of religious belief. Continuing the inquiry begun in his previous book, Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion, J. L. Schellenberg here argues that given our limitations and especially our immaturity as a species, there is no reasonable choice but to withhold judgment about the existence of an ultimate salvific reality. Schellenberg defends this conclusion against arguments from religious experience and naturalistic arguments that might seem to make either religious belief or religious disbelief preferable to his skeptical stance. In so doing, he canvasses virtually all of the important recent work on the epistemology of religion. Of particular interest is his call for at least skepticism about theism, the most common religious claim among philosophers.The Wisdom to Doubt expands the author's well-known hiddenness argument against theism and situates it within a larger atheistic argument, itself made to serve the purposes of his broader skeptical case. That case need not, on Schellenberg's view, lead to a dead end but rather functions as a gateway to important new insights about intellectual tasks and religious possibilities.

Contents:

pt. 1. Finitude and the future: seven modes of religious skepticism

pt. 2. Cradles of conviction: the modes applied and fortified

pt. 3. God and the gaps: the modes illustrated and vindicated.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780801465130

0801465133

9780801478512

0801478510

9780801462399

0801462398

OCLC:

732957079