bertrand russell - why i am not a thiest

Question 1

what is russell’s objection to the first cause argument

Answer 1

The First Cause Argument
Everything that happens has a prior cause – cannot go on for infinity, must be an uncaused cause – this is god
—–why should god escape the chain of causation
——why make exception for god, why cant uncaused cause be the big bang for example
Another objection to the first cause argument:
“There is no reason why the world could not have come into being without a cause; nor, on the other hand, is there any reason why it should not have always existed. There is no reason to suppose that the world had a beginning at all. The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the poverty of our imagination.”
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Question 2

how doe russell argue against the argument from design

Answer 2

“When you come to look into this argument from design, it is a most astonishing thing that people can believe that this world, with all the things that are in it, with all its defects, should be the best that omnipotence and omniscience have been able to produce in millions of years. I really cannot believe it.” \

Russell’s problem: the world is not so perfectly made as to require the existence of an omnipotent and benevolent being that has designed the world.

Question 3

how does the theory of evolution supposedly undermine the deign argument

Answer 3

-Argument: god is good  god commands us to act morally  we have to act morally  do what god commands  why? Because god is good

Question 4

why do people believe in god, according to russell

Answer 4

-“Most people believe in God because they have been taught from early infancy to do it, and that is the main reason.
Then I think that the next most powerful reason is the wish for safety, a sort of feeling that there is a big brother who will look after you.
That plays a very profound part in influencing people’s desire for a belief in God.”
Why believe in god?
 First person perspective – arguments – life experience
 Third person perspective – because they were taught to

For Russell, therefore, God is more a (useful) idea we created for our own (psychological/moral) purposes, than something that really exists.