On the Existence and Relevance of God

The main aims of this text are to establish that it is rational to believe that God exists; to show how God relates to morality; and to show how God is casually connected to his creation. The author defends a version of the ontological argument and refutes the atheistic argument from suffering. He argues that only God can account for the overridingness of morality. He also treats ethical supernaturalism as a type of ethical attitude theory, showing how it is related to secular theories which base valid judgements of moral goodness and evil on pro and con attitudes. He illustrates how, given scientific explanation, theistic explanation of the empirical universe can get a foothold. His method is to adopt and defend a version of theistic (Berkeley-like) phenomenalism and, in that connection, a pragmatic-instrumentalist interpretation of scientific theories.