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Religion for naturalists


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Authors

Deng, Natalja 

Abstract

Some naturalists feel an affinity with some religions, or with a particular religion. They may have previously belonged to it, and/or been raised in it, and/or be close to people who belong to it, and/or simply feel attracted to its practices, texts and traditions. This raises the question of whether and to what extent a naturalist can lead the life of a religious believer. The sparse literature on this topic focuses on (a position recognizable as) religious fictionalism. I also frame the debate in these terms. I ask what religious fictionalism might amount to, reject some possible versions of it and endorse a different one. I then examine the existing proposals, by Robin Le Poidevin, Peter Lipton, Andrew Eshleman and Howard Wettstein, and show that even on my version of religious fictionalism, much of what has been described by these authors is still possible.

Description

Keywords

Religious fictionalism, Critical context, Le Poidevin, Lipton, Eshleman, Wettstein

Journal Title

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0020-7047
1572-8684

Volume Title

78

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Thanks to the Notre Dame Center for Philosophy of Religion, the Templeton World Charity Foundation, and all who commented on earlier drafts, including Arif Ahmed, Alison Fernandez, Mike Rea, Evan Fales, and Robert Audi.