Richard Dawkins is often accused of being naive. Some of his fiercest critics are moderate Christians who claim that the religion Dawkins attacks is not their religion. The claim is that Dawkins is attacking a strawman version of Christianity and not the real intellectually sophisticated version that they believe in.This form of criticism is called the Courtier's Reply an amazingly apt response invented by PZ Myers.
Now, one of the "really sophisticated" Christians has posted a review of The God Delusion. Alvin Plantinga is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. It will be interesting to see how a believer in modern sophisticated Christianity performs. Jason Rosenhouse dissects the review at Evolutionblog (Plantinga on Dawkins: Part One). It doesn't look good. Superstition is superstition no matter how you dress it up.
Superstition is superstition no matter how you dress it up.
ReplyDeleteSounds like "superstition in a cheap tuxedo."
The "sophisticated" version of Xtianity (or any other religion) is actually far, far stupider than the average believer's "naive" version. The latter simply accept without question their childhood brainwashing; they at least have the good sense not to claim that they've arrived at their ridiculous beliefs via deep cogitation. The sophisticates, having wasted a great deal of brain activity arriving at much the same farrago of childish wishful thinking, stand convicted of gross abuse of their own intellectual powers for thoroughly unworthy ends.
ReplyDeleteWhat a stupid review. Jason Rosenhouse nails it.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't seem like the type of thing that a professor of philosophy needs to spend time discussing. Why even bother talking about theism; that just empowers it.
ReplyDelete