William James , the New Atheists , and the Possibility of Agnosticism Scot Yoder
نویسندگان
چکیده
In writing this paper I hope to lessen the polarization of religious discourse by making space for agnosticism between atheism and religious faith. I do this by critiquing two arguments against agnosticism, one offered by a “new atheists,” Richard Dawkins, and the other offered by a defender of faith, William James. The new atheists are notable not only for the strident rhetorical attacks on fervent religious believers, but also for their criticism of agnostics and religious moderates. In the process they draw implicitly on a normative account of the justification of belief with roots in the agnosticism of T.H. Huxley and the ethics of belief of W. K. Clifford. Given this connection, it is ironic that Dawkins argues against Huxley that religious agnosticism is untenable. William James’s defense of religious faith in “The Will to Believe” is also a response to Huxley. Like Dawkins, but for very different reasons, James argues that agnosticism is untenable. Religious belief presents us with a forced option. We must decide either for it or against it; suspending belief is not an alternative. My strategy is not to defend agnosticism directly, but to counter the arguments offered by Dawkins and James. In Part One I briefly trace the connection between Huxley and the new atheists. In Part Two I examine Dawkins’ critique of agnosticism, arguing that it fails because it relies on both a restrictive definition of agnosticism and an unjustified allegiance to
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Review of the Effect of Non-Epistemic Factors on Religious Belief from the Perspective of William James
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