Naturalistic vs Supernatural Explanations: “Charting” a Course away from a Belief in God by Utilizing Inference to the Best Explanation — Oak Academic Publishing
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Naturalistic vs Supernatural Explanations: “Charting” a Course away from a Belief in God by Utilizing Inference to the Best Explanation
Department of Philosophy, El Camino College, Torrance, CA, USA
1 Department of Philosophy, El Camino College, Torrance, CA, USA
The article critiques the seven major arguments supporting a belief in God. The arguments are presented as Inferences to the Best Explanation with the use of charts. The charts graphically demonstrate that naturalistic explanations are being ignored by the theist, who favors inherently unverifiable supernatural explanations over naturalistic ones. The paper also discusses why metaphysical beliefs should not be trusted, and how such beliefs differ from scientific beliefs. The paper concludes that the arguments for the existence of God fail because the naturalistic explanations are the best explanations and should be accepted over the supernatural explanation of God. To the extent that the charting of all seven arguments is new, it should be a helpful explanatory tool, especially for students.
KeywordsGodReligionInference to the Best ExplanationArguments for GodProblems with Arguments for GodNaturalistic ExplanationsSupernatural ExplanationsPhilosophy of ReligionCosmological ArgumentTeleological ArgumentFine-Tuning ArgumentReliability of ScriptureMiraclesReligious ExperienceOntological Argument
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