The Improbability of God [Hardcover]

Michael Martin (Editor), Ricki Monnier (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2006

A growing number of powerful arguments have been formulated by philosophers and logicians in recent years, demonstrating that the existence of God is improbable. These arguments assume that God's existence is possible, but argue that the weight of the empirical evidence is against God's actual existence. This unique anthology collects most of the important arguments that have been published since the mid 1900s. The editors make each argument clear and accessible by providing a helpful summary arranging the diverse collection into four thematic groups - the cosmological, teleological, inductive evil, and non-belief. The list of distinguished authors offer an indispensable resource in the philosophy of religion.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Martin is professor emeritus of philosophy at Boston University and author of numerous books, including Atheism: A Philosophical Justification; Atheism, Morality, and Meaning; and The Big Domino in the Sky and Other Atheistic Tales.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (May 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591023815
• ISBN-13: 978-1591023814
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #870,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anthologies make worthwhile contribution, June 16, 2006

By 

George Ricker "Author: 'Godless in America' a... (Palm Bay, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Improbability of God (Hardcover)

With "The Improbability of God," editors Michael Martin and Ricki Monnier have created a new anthology that----along with their previous collection, "The Impossibility of God"----is a worthwhile addition to the library of anyone seriously interested in the subject matter.

These volumes aren't typical summer reading fare and aren't likely to find their way into the bag of anyone headed to the beach for an afternoon of sun and fun. However, they are well organized and include contributions from a distinguished group of authors. And though some of the discussion requires a bit of heavy lifting from the reader, the clarity of the presentation makes it accessible and useful to the novice as well as the academic.

Any who take an interest in the various iterations of the god hypothesis, especially the "God" of conventional theism, will find these anthologies rewarding.

I highly recommend them.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Collection of Papers, January 14, 2007

By 

Michael Aristidou (Renton, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Improbability of God (Hardcover)

This is, indeed, an excellent collection of papers each of which presents
some interesting arguments against the claim that God existense is highly
probable.

Many of these papers are papers that have been published in philosophical
journals, such as Philo, Nous, American Philosophical Quarterly, and
others, and they are not one's everyday casual reading. They are,
nevertheless, accesible to non-philosophers too.

I found the "The evidential Arguments from Evil" (by W.Rowe, in Part 4)
and the "Indirect Inductive Argument from Evil" (by M.Martin, in Part 4)
the most interesting, but the rest are good too. For example, many
scientific-minded readers would appreciate, and enjoy, the series of
5 papers by Q. Smith in Part 1 on Bing-Bang Cosmology, and how Hawking's
Theories could be used to preclude the existence of a creator of the
universe. Quite useful is also the "Reply to Plantiga" (by W. Rowe, in
Part 4), since Plantiga is one of the biggest proponets of theism today.

This anthology is a small treasure for serious atheists (debaters,
writers, etc), not only because of the quality of the arguments
presented in the papers, but also for the practical reason that those
arguments are all collected in one book which makes their access easier
and faster.

Congrats to the authors, great work.


Michael Aristidou
Assist. Professor, Mathematics
Renton, WA

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could be better, I think, April 10, 2010

By 

E.L.B. (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Improbability of God (Hardcover)

If you're not well-versed in or familiar with the jargon of philosophy, logic, and probability theory, there are several essays you'll probably want to shun: much of Smith in the cosmological section; Ikeda and Jefferys, and Salmon in the teleological section; Smith again in the problem of evil section; maybe Schellenberg in the nonbelief section. These bring the more advanced atheological arguments in the volume. Other's don't seem very strong or complex, but disappointment in that might only reflect preference for sophistication over simplicity because the first can create the illusion of superiority. Perhaps less decorated arguments for atheism are preferable for their perspicuity, e.g., those by Rowe, Sinnot-Armstrong, Stenger, or Drange, and sometimes Martin. The appendix by the 18th-century Paul Thiry d'Holbach was actually very touching as well, vicariously expressing the quest of atheistic hearts everywhere. *The Improbability of God* is at least worth a read.

One thing did puzzle me though. Everitt, 'The Argument from Scale', makes a surprising claim (p. 124): that his argument 'does not even claim that theism is probably false.' Very odd indeed in a book committed to this very thing!