Irreligion Flashcards
Why is Jonathan Miller reluctant (aarzelend) to explicitly call himself an atheist?
Because Atheism itself has acquired almost itself a sectarian connotation(Such a strong connection
with the religion of you, that it gives problems to others groeps). And for him it seems that not
worth having a name for something which scarcely enters his thoughts.
For him it sees so self-evident true that there is no God. Giving that conviction a special tittle
somehow dignifies what it denies. (like we do not have a word for people who don’t believe in
ghosts)
List five protagonists (hoofdpersonages) that figured in Jonathan Miller’s Atheism: A Rough
History of Disbelief and explain their importance for the emergence(uitgang) of disbelief.
- Colin McGinn: Because there is no justice in this world. It would be good if there was some
cosmic force that distributed justice in the grand full way it should. He feels disappointed. - Davin Hume: He said that the only proof of God is the existence of our world, but evil and chaos
are still present, so we cannot be sure that God is good and forgiving. - Pascal Boyer: Religion is more an institutional framework that uses fosters those beliefs of the
religion. Humans like the idea of the presence of unseen agents, because coincidences make
more sense if there is someone who intended them to happen. - Sir Geoffrey Lloyd: Who felt threatened by Atheism and what sanction were available to get this
atheist back in line? It was easier to be a non-believer in the ancient world. There was no church
to punish the disbeliever. Lucretius: “Nature does everything spontaneously by herself, so why
do we need gods?” - Thomas Hobbes: his philosophy is completely materialistic. He thinks there is only one kind of
stuff, which is matter/material. Because it’s matter we see, feel sense and touch. All the rest is
no part of the universe, and because the universe is whole. The pieces that are not part of it are
non-existing.
Give five reasons for disbelief/atheism that figured in Jonathan Miller’s Atheism: A Rough
History of Disbelief.
- Because Christianity starts to come apart. It is no longer one catholic church, and for potential
disbelievers, these disagreements where seen as evidence that perhaps none of the dogma
might be true. - Some of the appalling social catastrophes from the last 100years seriously undermine faith of
God. - The environment that science has created is so comfortable and zo unthreatening that
consideration for the supernatural has faded. This is why people have less need for the
consolation of the church. - He just believes the authority of some people. Like a a scientist that tells me that the earth turns
around the sun. - Why are so many people starving, why did my three-year-old granddaughter die? David Hume:
Why can’t God, that has infinite power, make everyone happy.
According to Jonathan Miller, the relationship between the emergence of modern science
and the rise of disbelief is rather complex. Discuss.
Most scientist remain firm believers. They could separate their science and religion. An example of
this is research on the human body. “look what a wonderful machine God has created”.
Laws about gravity and motion made it impossible for an intelligent man to believe that the earth
was de centrum of the universe like the catholic church told.
Human beings have always sorted themselves out as those who visualize the universe in material
terms and those who see it animated by a supernatural intelligence. Because of that there is no
straight forward relationship between the retreat of religions and science.
The environment that science has created is zo comfortable and unthreatening that supernatural
considerations have weakened and faded. The reassurance that were once provided by the church
seem unnecessary.
What is the role given to Charles Darwin in Jonathan Miller’s Atheism: A Rough History of
Disbelief?
He gives Charles Darwin the role of a pioneer that changed everything around. His work would call
into question Gods role as the creature of nature and that would undermine the authority of
predominant Christian, social and political establishments.
What is Jonathan Miller’s attitude towards death?
As he gets older, he feels like following the deaths of his friends. But he doesn’t find himself asking
where those friends are now. Because as far as he concerns, they are nowhere. They have seized to
be.
But as he gets older, he thinks about how it will be. Will it be painful for example? He may be in a
situation where death cannot come to quickly because he’ll be in pain. He would like to ring the bell
and say, “this is where I get off”. He does not find it difficult to imagine not existing. But he is
frightened for the near-death experience. Like the mental and physical states that sometimes exist
when things fall to exist.
