Outline and Review the Arguments and Controversies Generated by Richard Dawkins Recent , The God Delusion - Book Report/Review Example

Download file to see previous pages Dawkins writes with such passion that he declares that to be an atheist is a “brave and splendid aspiration”. He argues that belief in religious faith is not only folly but a sinful one. When explaining to his readers where he stands in the atheist/theist spectrum, Dawkins states “I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there.” In other words, Dawkins’ atheism borders on agnosticism. An informed reader will find parallels between Dawkins and Bertrand Russell, the latter being an avowed agnostic. Similar to the yesteryear intellectual, Dawkins reasons that all suppositions for the existence of God need to be discredited. Once this is done, arguments supporting the opposing belief (that God does not exist) can be much easier to construct. Following this logical step, the transcendent qualifiers of religious beginnings need to be questioned. Finally, Dawkins proposes that the highest meaning and purpose of human life could be achieved without involving supernatural conceptions. Further, religion has been the root of much violence and conflict in the history of mankind than any other institution (Baltimore, 2007).
However, not all of Dawkins’ arguments are acceptable to all sections of his audience. For example, two arguments in support of traditional views on the existence of God are 1. the “ontological argument”, which says that God exists as a perfect entity by default; 2. and the “cosmological argument” which states that God is the ultimate cause of this universe. Dawkins’ counter-arguments to both these points of view are relatively weak in what is otherwise an excellently constructed set of arguments in the book.  ...Download file to see next pagesRead More