A Review of A.C. Grayling's 'The God Argument'

I loved this book.  Grayling opens with a critique of religion that focuses first on the most likely historical and psychological roots of religious belief and then on the most common arguments for the existence of God.  The latter are dismantled with the precision one would expect from a philosopher.  I was particularly pleased by his discussion of Plantinga's modal version of the ontological argument.

He also deals with issue of framing the discussion between atheists and believers, noting that the use of the word God (as opposed to 'gods and goddesses' or 'Fred') as a proper noun conveys a sense of gravitas to theological discourse to which it is not entitled.  It also obscures what is really going on in the standard pro-theistic arguments by creating the illusion that they are about something more substantive than a something-we-know-not-what.

The second part of the book moves beyond the negation of religion and argues for the adoption of Humanism as a life stance.  Humanism affirms the centrality of human experience in understanding ethical values and posits the flourishing of human beings as the goal of ethical action.  After elucidating what he means by humanism, Grayling proceeds to describe the elements that make up a good life.  He then moves on to more specific issues, such as human sexuality, abortion, drug use, and euthanasia.  He closes with a contrast between the religious and humanistic views of the world and concludes that all that is good in the former is present in the latter, while the negative qualities of the former are avoided.

This is a welcome addition to literature on atheism and to the current ongoing debate on the place of religion in public life.  Atheism as such is negative- it is nothing more or less than a lack of belief in gods and goddesses.  Much of the atheistic literature focuses on the absurdities and harmful effects of religion.  This is good and necessary, as far as it goes, but it brings me pleasure to see authors moving on to discuss the next step beyond the rejection of religion- the affirmation of the life of this world.