Is Atheism Rational? | Prof. John O'Callaghan

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

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Summary

Professor John O'Callaghan argues that atheism is not inherently irrational, exploring its varied historical meanings and proposing that, while not necessarily true, it can be a rational pursuit driven by a desire for truth.

This lecture was given on November 21st, 2024, at Michigan State University.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Prof. John O'Callaghan is the Director Emeritus of the Jacques Maritain Center at the University of Notre Dame as well as a permanent member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. He served as the past President of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. His areas of scholarly interest include medieval philosophy, the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and Thomistic metaphysics and ethics.

Keywords: Atheism, Benedict XVI, Descartes, Faith, Irrationality, Nietzsche, Rationalism, Truth

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Tomistic Institute podcast.
0:06.8	Our mission is to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.
0:13.1	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Temistic Institute chapters around the world.
0:19.1	To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at to mystic institute.org.
0:25.3	I was asked to speak to you this evening on the topic is atheism is irrational.
0:30.6	It may surprise you to know that I think that the answer to that question is, no, it is not irrational.
0:40.3	However, it's also a deceptively complicated title, and frankly, just a little ambiguous. And I'm in philosophy, so we love ambiguity
0:46.1	and sorting out ambiguities. Ambiguous and deceptive, because it seems so clear to us,
0:54.0	sorry, it seems unclear to us what it's asking.
0:57.6	Or, sorry, it seems so clear to us what it's asking, but it isn't clear.
1:02.0	So I'll begin by clarifying the title a bit and then argue that atheism is not irrational,
1:08.7	indeed that it is, on the contrary, rational.
1:12.5	Let's begin by asking what it is to be irrational and what atheism is,
1:18.9	and then what is a believing practicing Catholic like me to do about it.
1:24.4	Aquinas, whom I study, following Aristotle, holds that no position is so false that there's no
1:32.5	element of truth to be found within it. Well, if that philosophical and theological commitment to
1:39.6	considering the views of those with whom one disagrees extends even to atheism, then we should be able
1:47.9	to find some truth in atheism. But if there is truth in atheism, it cannot be irrational.
1:56.8	And that's a nice little argument if you think about it. So hopefully this workshift.
2:02.6	Premise 1.
2:04.6	An intellectual position in order to be wholly or partially true cannot be irrational.
2:10.6	But there is truth in the intellectual position of atheism.
	...

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