God: The Failed Hypothesis - Wikipedia





	
	

	
	

	God: The Failed Hypothesis

	
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		God: The Failed Hypothesis 	
	Author	Victor J. Stenger
	Cover artist	PhotoDisc, Inc.
	Country	United States
	Language	English
	Publisher	Prometheus Books
	Publication date
	2007
	Media type	Print (Hardcover)
	Pages	294 pp
	ISBN	1-59102-481-1
	OCLC	72988016
	Dewey Decimal
	212/.1 22
	LC Class	BL240.3 .S738 2007
	Preceded by	The Comprehensible Cosmos: Where Do The Laws Of Physics Come From? 


God: The Failed Hypothesis is a 2007 New York Times bestseller by scientist Victor J. Stenger who argues that there is no evidence for the existence of a deity and that God's existence, while not impossible, is improbable.


Contents


	1 Overview
	2 Critique
	3 References
	4 See also
	5 External links





Overview[edit]

Stenger says that, when Gould said religion was outside the reach of science, he was reducing religion to moral philosophy. In contrast, Stenger believes that religion often makes claims that are very much within the abilities of science to investigate. In that vein, he says that science practices methodological naturalism, although it does not rule out the supernatural (i.e. metaphysical naturalism or physicalism), science does restrict itself to testing that which can actually be tested - namely effects in the natural world (be their cause natural or supernatural).[1]

Stenger believes we have more than enough evidence of absence of the Judeo-Christian God. He adds that many arguments for God that were once compelling are now weak or irrelevant in light of modern scientific understanding. Stenger does not think we should be dogmatic about disbelief in God, but says the evidence is overwhelmingly against the belief. He is also critical of fine-tuning and fine-tuned universe arguments, and says they misunderstand the more reasonable weak anthropic principle.[1]


Critique[edit]

David Ludden of Skeptic magazine wrote that "Stenger lays out the evidence from cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear physics, particle physics, statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics showing that the universe appears exactly as it should if there is no creator."[2] Ludden concluded "All freethinkers should have both volumes [The God Delusion and God: The Failed Hypothesis], side by side, on their bookshelves."

Damien Broderick wrote in The Australian, "Stenger offers an answer to that deep question in his two new books, arguing a materialist, God-free account of the cosmos, equally antagonistic to superstition, to the paranormal and to religions archetypal and newfangled alike. He refuses to accept the polite accommodation urged by agnostic Stephen Jay Gould that science and religion can never be in conflict as they are non-overlapping 'magisteria'."[3]


References[edit]


	^ a b Point of Inquiry Podcast, "God: The Failed Hypothesis" interview with Vic Stenger

	^ 
"Conspicuous by His Absence". Skeptic. April 4, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17.

	^ 
"God: The Failed Hypothesis / The Comprehensible Cosmos". The Australian. March 10, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17.




See also[edit]

	Omnipotence paradox
	Problem of evil
	Teleological argument#Fine-tuned universe


External links[edit]

	Description from Prometheus Books
	A summary of God: The Failed Hypothesis from Stenger






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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=God:_The_Failed_Hypothesis&oldid=992039469"


		Categories: 	2007 non-fiction books
	Books critical of religion
	Books about atheism
	Religious studies books
	Prometheus Books books
	2007 in religion
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		 This page was last edited on 3 December 2020, at 04:12 (UTC).
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