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Idolatry, indifference, and the scientific study of religion: two new Humean arguments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2018

DANIEL LINFORD Open the ORCID record for DANIEL LINFORD [Opens in a new window]  and
JASON MEGILL
DANIEL LINFORD*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
JASON MEGILL*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Bentley University, Waltham, MA 02452, USA
*
e-mail: dlinford@purdue.edu
e-mail: jmegill@bentley.edu
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Abstract

We utilize contemporary cognitive and social science of religion to defend a controversial thesis: the human cognitive apparatus gratuitously inclines humans to religious activity oriented around entities other than the God of classical theism. Using this thesis, we update and defend two arguments drawn from David Hume: (i) the argument from idolatry, which argues that the God of classical theism does not exist, and (ii) the argument from indifference, which argues that if the God of classical theism exists, God is indifferent to our religious activity.

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Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 488 - 508
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018

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