The Wisdom to Doubt: A Justification of Religious Skepticism - Softcover

Schellenberg, J. L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801478510 ISBN 13: 9780801478512

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2012

Synopsis

The Wisdom to Doubt is a major contribution to the contemporary literature on the epistemology of religious belief. Continuing the inquiry begun in his previous book, Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion, J. L. Schellenberg here argues that given our limitations and especially our immaturity as a species, there is no reasonable choice but to withhold judgment about the existence of an ultimate salvific reality.

Schellenberg defends this conclusion against arguments from religious experience and naturalistic arguments that might seem to make either religious belief or religious disbelief preferable to his skeptical stance. In so doing, he canvasses virtually all of the important recent work on the epistemology of religion. Of particular interest is his call for at least skepticism about theism, the most common religious claim among philosophers. The Wisdom to Doubt expands the author's well-known hiddenness argument against theism and situates it within a larger atheistic argument, itself made to serve the purposes of his broader skeptical case. That case need not, on Schellenberg's view, lead to a dead end but rather functions as a gateway to important new insights about intellectual tasks and religious possibilities.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"The Wisdom to Doubt is extraordinarily well structured; moreover, it is stuffed with powerful arguments that are passionately expressed and enlightening. Those who are serious about the philosophy of religion will have to come to terms with it."--Daniel Howard-Snyder, Western Washington University

About the Author

J. L. Schellenberg is Professor of Philosophy at Mount Saint Vincent University. He is the author of Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason and Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion, also from Cornell.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0801478510
• ISBN 13: 9780801478512
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 344