I am about as agnostic as they come, but I nonetheless found a lot to disagree with in Sean Carroll’s recent blog post on Slate. At one point Carroll writes the following:
Due to the efforts of many smart people over the course of many years, scholars who are experts in the fundamental nature of reality have by a wide majority concluded that God does not exist. We have better explanations for how things work. The shift in perspective from theism to atheism is arguably the single most important bit of progress in fundamental ontology over the last 500 years.
Yes. And theologians — those who specialize in the rational examination of the existance of God — have overwhelmingly come to the opposite conclusion. So for starters, I’m not sure I understand why I should find philosophers so much more persuasive than theologians. Indeed, there is an obvious endogeneity problem in Carroll’s observation: it isn’t hard to imagine that those who choose to become academic philosophers are themselves predisposed to be atheists (otherwise they might have sowed their interest of “origin thinking” by becoming theologians or pastors). In short, the survey Carroll cites showing a “majority” of atheist philosophers likely suffers from selection bais. There is also the obvious point that many intelligent observers maintain a faith in God (see this list, for example).
But there is a more fundamental criticism of Carroll’s view. Philosophy itself is not science. In many ways the modern world is an ode to the majesty of the human mind, but there is no evidence that 500 years of diligent contemplation about human existence has brought us any closer to the fundamental truths of the universe because there is little emprical evidence about what the truth of the universe actually is. Philosophy isn’t necessarily defined in contradiction to science, but there are obvious problems in the little brains of 2013 bringing evidence to bear on problems that are so unimaginably immeasurable. Sure, modern science is beginning to break through these measurability barriers, but only just; for now the barriers do indeed exist, and in multitudes.
Moreover, theologians also use science — archeology, anthropology, history, and the like — to explain and expand on many of the stories in The Bible and other religious texts. So, if neutrality is our starting point why should we be persuaded by the philosophers but not the theologians? It’s probably true that the importance of their personal religious beliefs may incentivize theologians to pick and choose evidence that supports God’s existence, but this is no different than any other field, including philosophy itself. As observers of human nature, surely philosophers are acutely aware of this.
At any rate, it is my belief that looking for proof of God’s existence (or lack thereof) is fundamentally foolish. The purpose of belief in God is faith — that is, belief in the absence of evidence. If proof of God’s existence was easy to observe then salvation would have little meaning. Only an imbecile would turn his back on incontrovertible evidence of God and choose damnation over eternity in heaven. Instead, the evidence of God’s existence is meant to be more subtle: the proof is existence itself.
Indeed, one would think that a God powerful enough to create the universe could quite easily erase definitive proof of her existence, necessitating a blind conviction rather than a forced belief by way of science. The purpose of desiring faith by the product of her creation (us) may escape human logic, but then again we didn’t create the universe.
If you are religious, a better scientific understanding of the universe moves religion and science closer together, not further apart. This attraction is not the result of proof of God in any meaningful sense, but rather a deeper appreciation for God’s creation: human existence (including the observable universe). For a scientist, better knowledge of the universe does not necessarily point to God, but it certainly doesn’t exclude her existence either. This is especially true under a paradigm of a God that is purposefully elusive and desiring of faith over evidence. (The details of this argument depend on the particularities of the religion in question. I am speaking here of the Christian God, though I suspect similar arguments could be levied with equal effect at other religions.)
I am not a philosophy major. In fact, I know little at all about the subject. I am, however, quite sure that thinkers much smarter than myself have long ago solved this ontological quandary and I’m sure Carroll would be quick to inculcate me of this fact. Nonetheless, I am unlikely to swiftly dismiss the future possibility that religion and science can be reconciled in a manner that connects broadly with academics and nonacademics alike. If the last 500 years has seen a “shift in perspective from theism to atheism,” who knows what the next 500 will bring.
(My own objection to God is that she seems like an indisputably human creation. Gods have existed in various cultures for thousands of years, perhaps tens of thousands. It seems unreasonable to assume that, of all the ways to envision the underpinnings and inner workings of the universe, peoples — globally and without communicating with one another — all happened to randomly converge on a set that is so nearly precise: “No, no, you see, there aren’t many Gods, there is only one. Other than that you all aren’t that far off.” There is also the point that people are terrible at processing stochastic events and imbue every coincidence — which are all quite likely to occur from a probabilistic standpoint — with a religious context. “OMG, why did XYZ happen to me?!?! What does it mean???” Well, it was going to happen to someone, stop internalizing everything; the universe isn’t about YOU. These two factors combined with the fact that a belief in God would require a radical transformation of a life and group of friends I very much enjoy combine to create an idea that I simply cannot accept. But let’s be careful: (a) I could be wrong and (b) my sentiments in no way imply that the believers among us cannot appropriate science toward an understanding of God’s design or that those who believe in science should necessarily exclude God as a possible origin story. However, also note that my previous statement does not endorse the teaching of Creationism in public schools, which I am very much against).
Sightly Tilted 