Should We Want God to Exist?

Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 82 (3):674-696 (2010)
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Abstract

Whether God exists is a metaphysical question. But there is also a neglected evaluative question about God’s existence: Should we want God to exist? Very many, including many atheists and agnostics, appear to think we should. Theists claim that if God didn’t exist things would be far worse, and many atheists agree; they regret God’s inexistence. Some remarks by Thomas Nagel suggest an opposing view: that we should want God not to exist. I call this view anti-theism. I explain how such view can be coherent, and why it might be correct. Anti-theism must be distinguished from the argument from evil or the denial of God’s goodness; it is a claim about the goodness of God’s existence. Anti-theists must claim that it’s a logical consequence of God’s existence that things are worse in certain respects. The problem is that God’s existence would also make things better in many ways. Given that God’s existence is likely to be impersonally better overall, anti-theists face a challenge similar to that facing nonconsequentialists. I explore two ways of meeting this challenge

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Guy Kahane
Oxford University

Citations of this work

The Meaning of Life (Second Revised Edition).Thaddeus Metz - 2021 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Our Cosmic Insignificance.Guy Kahane - 2013 - Noûs 47 (2):745-772.
Our Cosmic Insignificance.Guy Kahane - 2013 - Noûs 48 (4):745-772.
God, Soul and the Meaning of Life.Thaddeus Metz - 2019 - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Being and nothingness.Jean-Paul Sartre - 1956 - Avenel, N.J.: Random House.
Moral Luck: Philosophical Papers 1973–1980.Bernard Williams - 1981 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Problems of the Self.Bernard Williams - 1973 - Cambridge [Eng.]: Cambridge University Press.
Moral Luck.B. A. O. Williams & T. Nagel - 1976 - Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 50 (1):115-152.

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