Thomas Nagel on Atheism

"I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.” [1]

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Footnote:
1. The Last Word by Thomas Nagel, Oxford University Press: 1997.

Comments

bbrown said…

He does "not want the universe to be like that". I have to wonder what he means by that? What kind of universe is he imagining? He seems to imagine that the existence of God has to be a bad thing. Sure seems like some sort of negative emotional presuppositions going on here.
Andrew Ryan said…
"Sure seems like some sort of negative emotional presuppositions going on here."

Surely no more than a Christian saying he wants there to be a God, and wouldn't want to live in a Godless universe.