Can Atheism Be Epistemically Responsible When So Many People Believe in God?

European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 7 (1):181--198 (2015)
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Abstract

Nowadays the argument for the existence of God based on the common consent of mankind is taken to be so bad that contemporary atheists do not even bother to mention it. And it seems very few theists think that the argument is worth defending. In this paper I shall argue to the contrary: not only is the argument better than usually thought, but widespread belief in God constitutes a prima facie defeater for every reasonable atheist.

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10.24204/ejpr.v7i1.137

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Citations of this work

Nontraditional Arguments for Theism.Chad A. McIntosh - 2019 - Philosophy Compass 14 (5):1-14.
Resuscitating the Common Consent Argument for Theism.Matthew Braddock - 2023 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 93 (3):189-210.
Common Consent Arguments for Belief in God.Marcus Hunt - 2022 - Dialogue: A Journal of Philosophy and Religion (58):17-22.

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References found in this work

Peer disagreement and higher order evidence.Thomas Kelly - 2011 - In Alvin I. Goldman & Dennis Whitcomb (eds.), Social Epistemology: Essential Readings. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 183--217.
The Problem of Political Authority.Michael Huemer - 2013 - New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
The Ethics of Belief.William Clifford - 1879 - In Brian Davies (ed.), Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology. Oxford University Press.

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