Considerations about the existence and nature of God are given far too much weight in contemporary discussions of philosophy of religion. Against prevailing orthodoxy, this introduction to philosophy of religion urges a broader perspective that attends seriously to a wide range of religious and non-religious worldviews.

The best way to work out whether or not to believe in God is to compare the best theory that says that God exists with the best theory that says that God does not exist, taking into account all of the relevant data. This book compares Theism - the best theory that says that God exists - with Naturalism - the best theory that says that God does not exist - on a very wide range of data. The conclusion of the comparison is that Naturalism is a better theory than Theism: for Naturalism is simpler than Theism, and all of the considered data is explained at least as well by Naturalism as it is by Theism. The argument for Naturalism is novel both in outline, and in the details of the case that there is no data that Theism explains better than Naturalism does.

PROSE 2020 Single Volume Reference Finalist! Philosophers throughout history have debated the existence of gods, but it is only in recent years that the absence of such a belief has become a significant topic of philosophical analysis, in particular for philosophers of religion. Although it is difficult to trace the historical contours of atheism as the lack of belief in a higher power, the reasoned, reflective, and thoughtful rejection of theism has become commonplace in many modern intellectual circles, including academic philosophy where disciplinary data indicates that a large majority of philosophers self-identify as atheists. As the first book of its kind to bring together a collection of writing on the philosophical aspects of atheism both historical and contemporary, the Companion to Atheism and Philosophy stages an explicit, constructive, and comprehensive conversation between philosophy and atheism to examine the ways in which atheist thought intersects with ideas and positions from a variety of philosophical and theological sub-disciplines. The Companion begins by addressing the foundational questions and lingering controversies which underpin philosophical thought about atheism, exploring the implications of major developments in the history of philosophy for the modern atheistic worldview. Divided into eight distinct sections, essays consider a range of thinkers who were widely believed to have been atheists--including David Hume, Mary Wollstonecraft, Karl Marx, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton--and survey different kinds of objections to theism and atheism, including logical, evidential, normative, and prudential. Later chapters trace the relationship between atheism and metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy oriented around topics such as pragmatism, postmodernism, freedom, education, violence, and happiness. Deftly curated and thoughtfully composed, A Companion to Atheism and Philosophy is the most ambitious and authoritative account of philosophical thinking on atheism available, and is a first-rate resource for academics, professionals, and students of philosophy, religious studies, and theology.

"Reading Philosophy of Religion" combines a diverse selection of classical and contemporary texts in philosophy of religion with insightful commentaries.

Offers a unique presentation through a combination of text and interactive commentaryProvides a mix of classic and contemporary texts, including some not anthologized elsewhereIncludes writings from thinkers such as Aquinas, Boethius, Hume, Plantinga and PutnamDivided into sections which examine religious language, the existence of God, reason, argument and belief, divine properties, and religious pluralism