Richard Dawkins' ~ Existence of God ~ scale
Atheism ~ Agnosticism
A significant milestone in what became Richard Dawkins dramatic rise to prominence as one of the world's most vocal advocates of atheism
in contemporary public debates relating to rationalism, science and religion
was the publication of his 2006 book The God Delusion.
On Page 50 of 'The God Delusion' Richard Dawkins sets up a scale of probability for the existence of God.
1 is 100% certainty in the existence of God and 7 is 100% certainty in the non existence of God.
1.00: Strong theist. 100 per cent possibility of God. In the words of C.G. Jung, 'I do not believe, I know.'
2.00: Very high probability but short of 100 per cent. De facto theist. 'I cannot know for certain, but I strongly believe in God and live my life on the assumption that he is there.'
3.00: Higher than 50 per cent but not very high. Technically agnostic but leaning towards theism. 'I am very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.'
4.00: Exactly 50 per cent. Completely impartial agnostic. 'God's existence and non-existence are exactly equiprobable.'
5.00: Lower than 50 per cent but not very low. Technically agnostic but leaning towards atheism. 'I don't know whether God exists but I'm inclined to be sceptical.'
6.00: Very low probability, but short of zero. De facto atheist. 'I cannot know for certain but I think God is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there.'
7:00: Strong atheist. 'I know there is no God, with the same conviction as Jung 'knows' there is one.'
Dawkins comments in his The God Delusion book, as to his own position on the Existence of God scale, that he is in the 6 to 7 range:-
“I count myself in category 6, but leaning towards 7. I am agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden.”
In print, Dawkins self-identified as a '6', though when interviewed on the highly-rated HBO series Real Time with Bill Maher, on 11 April, 2008, he suggested he might be a '6.9'.
In a debate held in Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre in February, 2012, on the theme of 'THE NATURE OF HUMAN BEINGS AND THE QUESTION OF THEIR
ULTIMATE ORIGIN’ Richard Dawkins (in a politely conducted face-off with the
Archbishop of Canterbury) again self-classified himself as a 6.9.
"The probability of any supernatural creator existing is very, very low, so let's say I'm a 6.9."
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atheism agnosticism atheists