A Non-Doxastic Fear of Hell: On the Impact of Negative Factors for an Agnostic Religious Commitment
On the standard view, an agnostic might commit non-doxastically to religion because she wants to receive some goods, which might be either natural or supernatural in kind. I broaden the picture by showing how the agnostic must also take negative factors into account. Negative mundane factors should...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/8/376 |
| _version_ | 1827712565319303168 |
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| author | Carl-Johan Palmqvist |
| author_facet | Carl-Johan Palmqvist |
| author_sort | Carl-Johan Palmqvist |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | On the standard view, an agnostic might commit non-doxastically to religion because she wants to receive some goods, which might be either natural or supernatural in kind. I broaden the picture by showing how the agnostic must also take negative factors into account. Negative mundane factors should be avoided as far as possible by the agnostic, and in extreme cases, even at the price of giving up supernatural goods. Negative supernatural factors, like eternal torment, work differently. An agnostic who considers an eternity of suffering in hell a live possibility might rationally make a religious commitment in order to avoid it. Non-doxastic religion is commonly conceived as requiring a pro-attitude. If fear can have the impact I suggest, we must broaden the picture to allow for a negatively based commitment as well. To make explicit the kind of attitude relevant here, I offer an analysis of fear as a rational, non-doxastic attitude. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:18:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0a37751d771747609f2738430597c41d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T18:18:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-0a37751d771747609f2738430597c41d2023-11-20T07:30:00ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442020-07-0111837610.3390/rel11080376A Non-Doxastic Fear of Hell: On the Impact of Negative Factors for an Agnostic Religious CommitmentCarl-Johan Palmqvist0Department of Philosophy, University of Lund, Box 192, 221 00 Lund, SwedenOn the standard view, an agnostic might commit non-doxastically to religion because she wants to receive some goods, which might be either natural or supernatural in kind. I broaden the picture by showing how the agnostic must also take negative factors into account. Negative mundane factors should be avoided as far as possible by the agnostic, and in extreme cases, even at the price of giving up supernatural goods. Negative supernatural factors, like eternal torment, work differently. An agnostic who considers an eternity of suffering in hell a live possibility might rationally make a religious commitment in order to avoid it. Non-doxastic religion is commonly conceived as requiring a pro-attitude. If fear can have the impact I suggest, we must broaden the picture to allow for a negatively based commitment as well. To make explicit the kind of attitude relevant here, I offer an analysis of fear as a rational, non-doxastic attitude.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/8/376agnosticismnon-doxasticismhope and fear |
| spellingShingle | Carl-Johan Palmqvist A Non-Doxastic Fear of Hell: On the Impact of Negative Factors for an Agnostic Religious Commitment Religions agnosticism non-doxasticism hope and fear |
| title | A Non-Doxastic Fear of Hell: On the Impact of Negative Factors for an Agnostic Religious Commitment |
| title_full | A Non-Doxastic Fear of Hell: On the Impact of Negative Factors for an Agnostic Religious Commitment |
| title_fullStr | A Non-Doxastic Fear of Hell: On the Impact of Negative Factors for an Agnostic Religious Commitment |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Non-Doxastic Fear of Hell: On the Impact of Negative Factors for an Agnostic Religious Commitment |
| title_short | A Non-Doxastic Fear of Hell: On the Impact of Negative Factors for an Agnostic Religious Commitment |
| title_sort | non doxastic fear of hell on the impact of negative factors for an agnostic religious commitment |
| topic | agnosticism non-doxasticism hope and fear |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/8/376 |
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