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Religion's evolutionary landscape needs pruning with Ockham's razor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 June 2005

William A. Rottschaefer
William A. Rottschaefer*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR97219http://www.lclark.edu/%7Erotts/
*
rotts@clark.edu
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Abstract:

Atran & Norenzayan (A&N) have not adequately supported the epistemic component of their proposal, namely, that God does not exist. A weaker, more probable hypothesis, not requiring that component – that the benefits of religious belief outweigh those of disbelief, even though we do not know whether or not God exists – is available. I counsel them to use Ockham's razor, eliminate their negative epistemic thesis, and accept the weaker hypothesis.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 27 , Issue 6 , December 2004 , pp. 747 - 748
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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