Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T09:33:43.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Forms of belief-less religion: why non-doxasticism makes fictionalism redundant for the pro-religious agnostic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

CARL-JOHAN PALMQVIST Open the ORCID record for CARL-JOHAN PALMQVIST [Opens in a new window]
CARL-JOHAN PALMQVIST*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Lund, Box 192, 221 00, Lund, Sweden
*
e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Which form of belief-less religion should the agnostic prefer: non-doxasticism which substitutes belief with some weaker cognitive attitude, or fictionalism which standardly treats religious life as a game of make-believe? I argue for non-doxasticism due to its ability to handle the problems associated with fictionalism. However, in an argument for exclusive availability I go further, denying even that the agnostic has a choice: if she has a religious pro-attitude only non-doxasticism is rationally available to her. I also address and reject a recent argument by Finlay Malcolm to the effect that non-doxasticism cannot be properly distinguished from fictionalism.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 49 - 65
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alston, William P. (1996) ‘Belief, acceptance and religious faith’, in Jordan, Jeff & Howard-Snyder, Daniel (eds) Faith, Freedom and Rationality (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.), 3–28.Google Scholar
Audi, Robert (2011) Rationality and Religious Commitment (Oxford: Oxford University Press).10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609574.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bovens, Luc (1999) ‘The value of hope’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 59, 667–681.10.2307/2653787CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchak, Lara (2012) ‘Can it be rational to have faith?’, in Chandler, Jake & Harrison, Victoria (eds) Probability in the Philosophy of Religion (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 225–248.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604760.003.0012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deng, Natalja (2015) ‘Religion for naturalists’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 78, 195–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eshleman, Andrew (2005) ‘Can an atheist believe in God?’, Religious Studies, 41, 183–199.10.1017/S0034412505007602CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eshleman, Andrew (2010) ‘Religious fictionalism defended: reply to Cordry’, Religious Studies, 46, 91–96.10.1017/S0034412509990333CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, Victoria (2010) ‘Philosophy of religion, fictionalism, and religious diversity’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 68, 43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard-Snyder, Daniel (2013) ‘Propositional faith: what it is and what it is not’, American Philosophical Quarterly, 50, 357–372.Google Scholar
Howard-Snyder, Daniel (2018) ‘Can fictionalists have faith? It all depends’, Religious Studies (Early View), 1–22.Google Scholar
Jay, Christopher (2014), ‘The Kantian moral hazard argument for religious fictionalism’, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 75, 207–232.10.1007/s11153-013-9435-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalderon, Mark Eli (2005) ‘Introduction’, in Kalderon, Mark Eli (ed.) Fictionalism in Metaphysics (Oxford: Clarendon Press), 1–13.Google Scholar
Le Poidevin, Robin (1996) Arguing for Atheism: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (New York: Routledge).Google Scholar
Le Poidevin, Robin (2003) ‘Theistic discourse and fictional truth’, Revue Internationale de Philosophie, 265, 271–284.Google Scholar
Le Poidevin, Robin (2016) ‘Playing the God game’, in Buckareff, Andrei A. & Nagasawa, Yujin (eds) Alternative Concepts of God (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 178–191.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198722250.003.0011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipton, Peter (2009) ‘Science and religion: the immersion solution’, in Cornwell, John & McGhee, Michael (eds) Philosophers and God (London: Continuum), 1–19.Google Scholar
Malcolm, Finlay (2018) ‘Can fictionalists have faith?’, Religious Studies, 54, 215–232.10.1017/S0034412517000063CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malcolm, Finlay & Michael, Scott (2017) ‘Faith, belief and fictionalism’, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 98, 257–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malcolm, Finlay & Scott, Michael (2018) ‘Religious fictionalism’, Philosophy Compass, 13.3, 1–11.Google Scholar
Mckaughan, Daniel (2013) ‘Authentic faith and acknowledged risk: dissolving the problem of faith and reason’, Religious Studies, 49, 101–124.10.1017/S0034412512000200CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meirav, Ariel (2009) ‘The nature of hope’, Ratio, 22, 216–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melchert, Norman (1985) ‘Why constructive empiricism collapses into scientific realism’, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 63, 213–215.10.1080/00048408512341821CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milona, Michael (2018) ‘Finding hope’, Canadian Journal of Philosophy (Early View), 1–20.Google Scholar
Muyskens, James L. (1979) The Sufficiency of Hope (Philadelphia: Temple University Press).Google Scholar
Palmqvist, Carl-Johan (2018a) ‘Faith and hope in situations of epistemic uncertainty’, Religious Studies (Early View), 1–17.Google Scholar
Palmqvist, Carl-Johan (2018b) ‘The proper object of non-doxastic religion’, Religious Studies (Early View), 1–16.Google Scholar
Pojman, Louis (1986) ‘Faith without belief’, Faith and Philosophy, 3, 157–176.10.5840/faithphil19863213CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robson, Jon (2015) ‘Religious fictionalism and the problem of evil’, Religious Studies, 51, 353–360.10.1017/S0034412515000281CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sainsbury, R. M. (2010) Fiction and Fictionalism (New York: Routledge).Google Scholar
Sauchelli, Andrea (2018) ‘The will to make-believe: religious fictionalism, religious beliefs, and the value of art’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 96, 620–635.10.1111/phpr.12328CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schellenberg, J. L. (2005) Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).Google Scholar
Schellenberg, J. L. (2009) The Will to Imagine (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).10.7591/9780801459269CrossRefGoogle Scholar