The Devil’s Advocate versus God’s Honest Truth

A Dialectical Inquiry into the Rationality of Religion

Necip Fikri Alican (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

836 Seiten

2025
Brill (Verlag)
9789004714830 (ISBN)

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The Devil’s Advocate versus God’s Honest Truth is a scholarly monograph exploring the rationality of religion, particularly the tenability of theism, through a dialectical analysis of plausible arguments for the existence of God versus reasonable grounds for suspicion. It offers a comprehensive and balanced coverage of the issues, inviting readers to reflect and ponder the subject in its full scope. The book thus makes up for the missing objectivity in an area that has long been dominated by sectarian scholarship and polarized beyond reconciliation.

Necip Fikri Alican is an independent scholar with research interests in ethics and metaphysics. His recent publications include One over Many (2021), Quine on Ethics (2021), and Mill’s Principle of Utility (2022).

Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

Guide to References

Introduction

Part 1

Theistic Perspective: Arguments for the Existence of God

1 What a Wonderful World: The Teleological Argument for the Existence of God

1.1 Origins and Early History

1.2 Thomas Aquinas

1.3 Transitional Development

1.4 Horological Imagery

1.5 William Paley

1.6 Opposition

1.7 David Hume

1.8 Immanuel Kant

1.9 Charles Darwin

1.10 Anthropic Reasoning and Observational Bias

1.10.1 Original Inspiration

1.10.2 Historical Development

1.10.3 Philosophical Implications

2 Who’s on First? The Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God

2.1 Classification of Variations

2.2 Origins and Early History

2.3 Thomas Aquinas

2.4 René Descartes

2.5 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Samuel Clarke

2.6 Kalām Formulation

2.6.1 Historical Background

2.6.2 Current Scholarship

2.6.3 Main Argument

2.6.4 First Premise of Main Argument

2.6.5 Second Premise of Main Argument

2.6.6 Conclusion of Main Argument

2.7 Opposition

2.8 David Hume

2.8.1 Argument under Scrutiny

2.8.2 Appraisal of Hume

2.8.3 Reception of Hume

2.9 Immanuel Kant

2.10 Contemporary Cosmology

3 A Proof than Which None Greater Can Be Conceived: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God (Anselm and Gaunilo)

3.1 General Overview

3.2 Anselm of Canterbury

3.3 Existence of God (Proslogion 2)

3.4 Magnificence of God (Proslogion 3)

3.5 Exegetical Analysis

3.6 Conceptual Amendment (Proslogion 15)

3.7 Formal Structure

3.8 Critique of Gaunilo (Pro Insipiente)

3.9 Reply of Anselm (Responsio Editoris)

3.10 Scholarly Reception of Anselm beyond Gaunilo

4 A Supremely Perfect Proof: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God (Development beyond Anselm)

4.1 Classification of Variations

4.2 Origins and Early History

4.2.1 Criteria for Similitude

4.2.2 Plato: Immortality of the Soul (Phaedo)

4.2.3 Plato: Supremacy of the Good (Republic)

4.2.4 Aristotle: Ontology of Necessity and Eternity

4.2.5 Aristotle: Elenctic Proof as Ontological Reasoning

4.2.6 Diogenes of Babylon

4.2.7 General Prospects for Other Candidates

4.3 René Descartes

4.3.1 Ontological Argument: Rationale and Structure

4.3.2 Dialectical Development: Elaboration and Defense

4.3.3 Comparative Analysis: Descartes versus Anselm

4.4 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

5 Objections than Which None Greater Can Be Conceived: The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God (Opposition beyond Gaunilo)

5.1 Thomas Aquinas

5.2 David Hume

5.3 Immanuel Kant

5.3.1 Exposition and Interpretation

5.3.2 Analysis and Appraisal

5.3.3 Concluding Remarks

5.4 Modern Parodies

5.4.1 Original Parody

5.4.2 Devil Parodies

5.4.3 Gasking’s Proof

Part 2

Skeptical Perspective: Reasons for Suspicion

6 In God We Trust: The Methodological Infirmity of Faith as Compared with Science

6.1 Faith as Arrested Development

6.2 Ethics versus Science

6.3 Faith versus Science

6.4 Have You Heard the Good News?

6.5 Common Concerns and Regular Responses

6.5.1 Questions about Reality

6.5.2 Questions about Morality

6.6 Possibility of Proof in Religious Disagreement

7 Who Mourns for Adonais? Or, Where Have All the Gods Gone?

7.1 Encounter with Adonais

7.2 Methodological Orientation

7.3 Creator Gods

7.4 Ruler Gods

7.5 Progressive Synthesis

7.6 Nostalgic Reminders

7.7 Requiem for Adonais

7.8 Relevance of Precedents: Syncretism or Parallelomania?

7.8.1 Patchwork through Syncretism

7.8.2 Projection through Parallelomania

7.8.3 Analysis and Verdict

8 Good Is My Shepherd: The Euthyphro Dilemma in Its Original Context

8.1 Philosophical and Literary Profile

8.1.1 Dramatic Setting

8.1.2 Historical Orientation

8.1.3 Tension between Philosophy and Religion

8.2 Daimonion of Socrates

8.3 Pursuit of Definition

8.4 Origination Dilemma

8.4.1 Reductio via the Origination Dilemma

8.4.2 Significance of the Origination Dilemma

8.4.3 Analogical Development of the Origination Dilemma

8.4.4 Aftermath of the Origination Dilemma

8.5 Dramatic versus Philosophical Conclusion

8.6 Symbolic Conclusion

8.7 Ongoing Relevance and Practical Implications

Appendix

Works Cited

Name Index

Subject Index

Erscheinungsdatum	04.04.2025
Reihe/Serie	Philosophy and Religion ; 405
Verlagsort	Leiden
Sprache	englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Gewicht	1510 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Logik
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
ISBN-13	9789004714830 / 9789004714830
Zustand	Neuware