Good and Bad Reasons for Believing
Taha Abdus Samad
2016-09-0001
Bushra Butt
Writing and Communication SS 100-12
16th April, 2012
Good And Bad Reasons For Believing
By Richard Dawkins
The text ‘Good and Bad Reasons for Believing’ is written by Richard Dawkins. It is an open letter which he wrote to his daughter, Juliet, when she turned ten and is part of his book, ‘A Devil’s Chaplain’. Dawkins feels his daughter is old enough now to not believe everything she is told blindly but should investigate what she is told to find out if it is true or not. This letter is also meant for theists and religious scholars whom Dawkins attacks in the letter. Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist and author. It is worth mentioning due to the nature of the letter that he is an outspoken atheist and a famous critic of religion. Although the writer makes a valid claim when saying that traditions are a bad reason for believing anything, the fact that he considers revelations a bad reason for believing can be argued against. In addition, the tone used throughout is decent and effective apart from a few instances where it can be deemed harsh, however, there are various logical fallacies in the text and the writer is also very biased especially when he talks about religion.
Dawkins discusses how evidence and observation are the only two good reasons for believing anything while he believes tradition, authority and revelation to be bad reasons for believing. He feels children should be told this from an early age because that is the age when man is most susceptible to wrong information and this will prevent people from passing this wrong information to future generations.
Firstly, the fact that the writer considers tradition to be a bad reason for believing may be one that the reader agrees with. Traditional beliefs are those that are handed down from generation to generation. There may not be adequate evidence to prove whether those beliefs are true or not but since they have been acted upon for a long time,
2016-09-0001
Bushra Butt
Writing and Communication SS 100-12
16th April, 2012
Good And Bad Reasons For Believing
By Richard Dawkins
The text ‘Good and Bad Reasons for Believing’ is written by Richard Dawkins. It is an open letter which he wrote to his daughter, Juliet, when she turned ten and is part of his book, ‘A Devil’s Chaplain’. Dawkins feels his daughter is old enough now to not believe everything she is told blindly but should investigate what she is told to find out if it is true or not. This letter is also meant for theists and religious scholars whom Dawkins attacks in the letter. Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist and author. It is worth mentioning due to the nature of the letter that he is an outspoken atheist and a famous critic of religion. Although the writer makes a valid claim when saying that traditions are a bad reason for believing anything, the fact that he considers revelations a bad reason for believing can be argued against. In addition, the tone used throughout is decent and effective apart from a few instances where it can be deemed harsh, however, there are various logical fallacies in the text and the writer is also very biased especially when he talks about religion.
Dawkins discusses how evidence and observation are the only two good reasons for believing anything while he believes tradition, authority and revelation to be bad reasons for believing. He feels children should be told this from an early age because that is the age when man is most susceptible to wrong information and this will prevent people from passing this wrong information to future generations.
Firstly, the fact that the writer considers tradition to be a bad reason for believing may be one that the reader agrees with. Traditional beliefs are those that are handed down from generation to generation. There may not be adequate evidence to prove whether those beliefs are true or not but since they have been acted upon for a long time,
Cited: Dawkins, Richard. "Good And Bad Reasons For Believing." A Devil 's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. Print. McKinlay, Brian. "The Idea of Revelation in Christian Faith and Thought." HubPages. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://brianmckinlay.hubpages.com/hub/Idea-of-revelation-in-Christian-faith-and-thought>. "Speakers Richard Dawkins: Evolutionary Biologist." Richard Dawkins. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ted.com/speakers/richard_dawkins.html>.