It is refreshing to see a mathematician step up to the plate when the water has been muddied by theologians.
John Allen Paulos is a mathematician who has written extensively on the topic of literacy in math. He is a logician whose work lies mostly on probability theory. He is also a bestselling writer on such topics as stock market, media awareness of math and humor in math.
In recent years those who espouse rationality as a virtue and view irrational faith as vice have come under attack. Stating a non-religious point of view have attracted opprobrium from the faithful. Many in the faith community spearhead these attacks by stating that the theological position is based on logic and reason. So it is somewhat fitting that Paulos would take up the ultimate challenge and show the theologians how to play the game of logic.
And how does he do it? By penning a short book defining and outlining the arguments in favor of existence of a deity. By closely examining these reasons he finds them at best a mediocre attempt at logic, falling far short of the rigorous standard of argument demanded by mathematics. And he sets out to tell the rest of us.
The book is called Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up. It was published in December 2007 by Hill and Wang. Despite being only 176 pages long it packs a great deal of punch for such a short book.
Those who are interested in the eternal argument that goes on between theists, deists and atheists would find this book invaluable. Light hearted and irreverent, you can say one thing about Dr Paulos, he has a very pronouncedly humorous writing style that can make even the most academically dense topic seem interesting. Using amusing anecdotes he seeks to illustrate through example, an technique that can often go wrong in the hand of an unskilled writer. Lucid and often tongue in the cheek, he brings about the deconstruction of the theist and deist and exposes the fallacy of the religious position that would bring a smile even to the faithful.
The good professor is not merely an academic, he also lives in the real world where he is keenly aware of events going on around him. He addresses each of the problems with the arguments with their modern proponents in mind. Clearly this book is meant for the audience deeply involved in the current argument regarding faith.
He begins with the four classical arguments for the existence of a deity: first cause, design, ontological argument and the anthropic principle. Keenly aware that these arguments have already been refuted by rationalists in the past, he seeks to take a very careful approach: focusing on the essence of each argument and quickly dismantling it.
One of greatest treats of this book are chapters that are meant as digressions: often he would take a concept invoked in the argument and expand its mathematical basis. One such a chapter is a reflection on self-recursion and self reference. Despite this book being a reflection on religion, any mathematics enthusiast would enjoy these forays into thought exercise on logic fascinating.
The professor goes on to examine some modern arguments postulated on behalf of supernatural existence. Arguments from prophecy, coincidences, interventions and miracles and subjectivity are all described in their fullest. The sharpness of the professor's logical tools seem somewhat excessive in comparison to the weakness of the arguments themselves. Yet, since these nonsensical attributes are given so much importance in the modern discourse on this topic, he has no choice but to address them in the fullest examination of logic. The faithful cannot help but twitch convulsively as their certainty falls apart.
The new academic arguments such as irreducible complexity, cognitive tendency, universality and probability are quite serious arguments and they enjoy the authority of having been evolved by people who hold some scientific credentials. Yet, all of these arguments are refuted each with a succinct and comprehensive fashion.
If you are interested in the modern dialogue between theology and atheism, this book is a must read for you. If you enjoy reading, this would be a great source of non-fiction humor that would inform you on the great god debate. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.
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