The Reference of “God”

Faith and Philosophy 3 (1):3-15 (1986)
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Abstract

Analytically inclined philosphers of religion have commonly assumed that 1) “God” must be defined before arguments for or against his existence can be evaluated 2) the history of religious beliefs is irrelevant to their justification. In this paper I apply the causal theory of reference to “God” and challenge both assumptions. If, as Freud supposes, “God” originates in the delusions of the mentally ill then it does not refer. On the other hand, if “God” originates in encounters with some Entity, no matter how vaguely conceived, then That is God.

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Citations of this work

Conceptual engineering for analytic theology.Patrick Greenough, Jean Gové & Ian Church - forthcoming - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy:1-34.
The causal theory of reference and religious language.James F. Harris - 1991 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 29 (2):75 - 86.

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References found in this work

Gods.John Wisdom - 1945 - Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 45:185-206.

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