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Posted: Thursday, March 5, 2009‘Is God a Delusion?’ Philosopher Disputes Scientist’s View of Religion
Eric Reitan, associate professor of philosophy at Oklahoma State University, will present “Is God a Delusion? A Reply to Religion’s Cultured Despisers”—a rebuttal of biologist Richard Dawkins’s 2006 bestseller,The God Delusion—at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 12, in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall.
“Reitan is taking on Dawkins in this book,” said Kimberly Blessing, associate professor and chair of the Philosophy and Humanities Department. “Dawkins is perhaps the most famous advocate of a certain version of atheism that is popular especially among academics. Reitan, a philosopher who studies the philosophy of religion, argues that Dawkins’s view of religion is flawed. It should make for a lively and engaging exchange of ideas.”
A common criticism of Dawkins’s book is that Dawkins, a biologist, displays little knowledge of relevant theology or philosophy of religion. Reitan and others have argued that this ignorance fatally undermines his case against theism and religious faith. But in the preface to the paperback edition of The God Delusion, Dawkins maintains that his scientific expertise is sufficient, and to require that he study theology before debunking religion is like requiring fairy skeptics to first examine treatises on the properties of fairy wings. In his lecture, Reitan will address what he sees as the serious inadequacies of Dawkins’s response.
Reitan received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University at Buffalo in 1993. He specializes in ethical theory, applied ethics, nonviolence theory, and philosophy of religion and has published numerous articles and reviews. Reitan won OSU’s Arts and Sciences Junior Faculty Award for Scholarly Excellence in 2004, and his fiction has garnered several awards, including the 2008 Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Crème de la Crème award for his short story “Malaguena.”
His new book, Is God a Delusion? A Reply to Religion’s Cultured Despisers (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008), is available for purchase at the Barnes & Noble at Buffalo State Bookstore. He will sign copies following his lecture at Buffalo State and at Talking Leaves, 3158 Main Street, on Friday, March 13, at 5:00 p.m.
His presentation, sponsored by the Philosophy and Humanities Department and the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, is free and open to the public. ContactBlessing, 878-5136, for more information.
