Between Faith and Science

“In popular debates about God’s existence, the winners are neither theists nor atheists, but agnostics, who rightly point out that neither side in the debate has made its case.” Gary Gutting, professor of philosophy at Notre Dame, discusses the murky middle ground between faith and scientific induction: “This [agnosticism] is the position supported by the consensus of expert philosophical opinion. This conclusion should particularly discomfit popular proponents of atheism, such as Richard Dawkins, whose position is entirely based on demonstrably faulty arguments. Believers, of course, can fall back on the logically less rigorous support that they characterize as faith. But then they need to reflect on just what sort of support faith can give to religious belief.”