Atheism and Morality

Abstract

Norman Malcolm once observed that, in Western academic philosophy, religious belief is commonly regarded as unreasonable and is viewed with condescension or even contempt. Malcolm himself did not, of course, take this view, but it is one which will be familiar to most philosophers, even if they do not themselves hold it. Nor need Malcolm’s observation be restricted only to the realm of academic philosophy. For there are many atheists who, rightly or wrongly, seeing themselves as untouched by philosophy, would nevertheless subscribe to the view that religious belief is of its very nature confused or in some way intellectually inadequate. So, I had better start by saying that, though an atheist, I do not number myself among them. It is not, however, my aim in this paper to defend religion against such attacks but rather to turn my attention to an analogous attitude amongst those who would count themselves religious believers. And once again, this attitude is not one which is restricted to academic philosophers, but finds its counterpart amongst the general populace. It is moreover, like the view which Malcolm castigates, often marked by condescension, or even contempt, attitudes which are, by contrast, directed in this case towards the atheist.