A2 Philosophy and Ethics: Critiques of Belief

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Flash cards designed for: Edexcel - Religious Studies - Philosophy and Ethics - Unit 3 - Philosophy - Critiques of belief. Bear in mind, before revising, that Critiques of Belief rarely comes up in the exam and so it may be worth revising an extra topic in case this question does not come up.
Adam Cook
Flashcards by Adam Cook, updated more than 1 year ago
Adam Cook
Created by Adam Cook over 9 years ago
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Question Answer
Critiques of Belief: The following flash-cards are for A2 Edexcel Philosophy and Ethics.
Gaskin: - Avoids using the word Atheism because of its negative connotations. -He created 5 types of unbelief.
5 types of unbelief: 1) Materialism: No supernatural realm. 2) Scepticism: Any knowledge of God is not attainable by humans. 3) Critical Unbelief: Theism is incoherent 4) Social Unbelief: Religion causes more harm than good. 5) Naturalistic explanations for belief: There is a natural explanation for the source of religious belief.
Russell: (Materialism) - Claims that the material evidence does not prove the existence of God. - Fear is the basis for religious beliefs. - Science & materialism helps to defeat this fear. -Materially speaking, it is impossible for God to exist - but this is impossible to prove.
Ayer: (Scepticism) - Has a sceptical view of belief. - You cannot have any belief in God because his existence cannot be proved by us as we do not have the tools to prove it. - Two types of proof that have meaning: 1: Analytic (logically true) 2: Synthetic (grounded in fact)
Baron d'Holbach: (Critical Unbelief) Religion is incoherent because: 1) God was created by humans. 2) An infinite being cannot relate to a finite being. 3) God allows evil to exist. 4) The revealed word of God is incoherent. 5) God takes sides & does not remain impartial.
Dawkins: (Social Unbelief) - Religious belief is not necessary. - Faith is a cop out, allowing people to evade thinking. - Religion is a virus. - Astonishing force which leads to extremism & terror .
Criticism of Dawkins: (Ward & MacGrath - The Dawkins Delusion) - Criticise Dawkins for being biased towards extreme examples. - Say that he is close to fundamental atheism. - He relies too much on science. - Wilson: Dawkins is a "silly shallow scientist".
Durkheim: (Naturalistic explanation - Sociological) - Religion is a "universal phenomenon". - It's one of the forces that creates a sense of moral obligation to adhere to societies' demands. - Life is a tension between the sacred (holy) and the profane (everyday stuff). - Religions = totem worshiping clans. - There is no separate entity called God. What does exist is a unified social system that owes it's being to God - do not focus on religious truths.
Weaknesses of Durkheim: * Data on tribal studies is debatable. * A distinction can be made between religious communities & a belief in God. * Is the link between God & society really that strong?
Marx: (Naturalistic explanation - Sociological) - "Religion is the opiate of the people". - Man created God in his image & this view then becomes embroiled in society (a reversed world consciousness). - Religion serves in society - it is a means of oppression. The ruling classes tell people why they were in the position in society they were in using religion & the working people are distracted from the real oppression.
Weaknesses of Marx: * Liberation Theology relieves oppression & shows how religion and Marxism can work in the real world. * There is a far greater gap between society & the church than Marx allows for. * We have capitalism, but religion remains although there is no need for it.
Freud: (Naturalistic explanation - Psychological) - Religion is a delusion, shows "obsessionality" & holds no truth. - It comes from tribes; a battle between dominant & subordinate males & as an expression of the Oedipus complex (God is a father figure & a representation of the Super Ego). - We maintain our belief to make our "helplessness tolerable". - Feuerbach: God is a projection & not true.
Freud's 3 Criticism of Religion: 1) Religion is a way to overcome inner conflict. 2) Religion is a manner of coping. 3) Religion is a result of psychological impulses.
Weaknesses of Freud: * Stressed that religious belief is a result of a person's relationship with their father, but Nelson & Jones found it had more to do with the mother. * Lowenthal: Projective & intrinsic religion. Freud only focused on projective (immature) religion. * Freud wanted to be objective but was biased. * Guirdham: Freud overplayed the connection between belief & psychopathologicality of organised religion.
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