Events

13 May 2008

Science, morality and the death of God

Seminar

In his essay "Memorial Service" (1922), H.L. Mencken named 170 heathen gods, many of whom were theoretically omnipotent, omniscient, and immortal, all of whom were worshipped by millions, and all of whom are dead. What caused their demise? Persecution, war, genocide, and the like. Plus the dawning recognition that the case for their survival was intellectually and morally insupportable. How do the revealed gods of monotheism - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - fare on these two counts? Poorly. Many would say that they too will therefore go to their graves. And deserve to. Yet science is now being recruited to resuscitate the God of Christianity in particular. Probabilistic arguments for intelligent design are all the rage. Are these arguments any good? And how would a designer/creator god fare on the count of morality?

Philosophy

Organisation:

University of Auckland