A little philosophy inclines to atheism, depth brings men back to religion
The universe is not without a mind: it is governed by a divine Providence. That is why philosophy, when it goes to the bottom of things, leads back to God.
A shallow look sees scattered causes; a deeper one finds them linked in an ordered chain, which cannot come from chance.
"A little philosophy inclines to atheism, depth brings men back to religion" is an argument by Francis Bacon (Essays, "Of Atheism" (1612, revised 1625)) on the question "Does God exist?" (answer: theism). Its claim: The universe is not without a mind: it is governed by a divine Providence. That is why philosophy, when it goes to the bottom of things, leads back to God. According to AskPhilosophy's logic check (Z3 solver), the argument is valid only if one grants a premise the author leaves unstated (P3). AskPhilosophy presents 3 objections, 0 of them with a documented reply, and the original text behind each premise, checked word for word.
It is one of Bacon's most quoted sentences: "a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion". Taken alone, it is an observation about people, not a proof: it says what happens to minds, not what is true. Indeed Bacon himself lists "learned times", in peace and prosperity, among the causes of atheism. But he immediately gives a reason, and that reason is an argument: when studying nature, we first see only scattered causes; going further, we discover they form a single ordered chain, and such an order cannot come from chance. It is this argument, from the design family, that we reconstruct here. Classification: it defends a Providence governing the world, hence theism.
click a premise to reject it
Without the implicit premise: Without P3, the computer finds a case where causes form an ordered chain and this order does not come from chance, but from something other than a mind (laws of matter, natural selection): then there is no Providence.
Objections
3Each objection is a conversation: click to see who replies and where the debate stands.
Diderot (an imaginary atheist, in the Philosophical Thoughts) 1746 · attacks premise 2If matter has been moving forever, it has tried an infinite number of combinations. Even if an ordered world is very unlikely on each throw, over infinitely many throws it eventually comes up, like a hundred thousand sixes with a hundred thousand dice if one plays long enough. What should astonish us is rather that it never came up.
no reply
If matter has been moving forever, it has tried an infinite number of combinations. Even if an ordered world is very unlikely on each throw, over infinitely many throws it eventually comes up, like a hundred thousand sixes with a hundred thousand dice if one plays long enough. What should astonish us is rather that it never came up.
Hume (Philo, in the Dialogues) 1779 · attacks premise 3There is not only chance and reason. We know other principles of order in nature: generation and vegetation. A plant or an animal produces admirable order without any design. And the world looks more like an animal or a plant than a machine: its origin might therefore be a kind of generation rather than a mind.
no reply
There is not only chance and reason. We know other principles of order in nature: generation and vegetation. A plant or an animal produces admirable order without any design. And the world looks more like an animal or a plant than a machine: its origin might therefore be a kind of generation rather than a mind.
Bertrand Russell 1927 · attacks premise 3Since Darwin, we understand why living creatures are adapted to their environment: it is not that the environment was made to suit them, but that they grew to suit it. Natural selection is neither pure chance nor a plan: it produces the appearance of design without design.
no reply
Since Darwin, we understand why living creatures are adapted to their environment: it is not that the environment was made to suit them, but that they grew to suit it. Natural selection is neither pure chance nor a plan: it produces the appearance of design without design.