Daniel Dennett - Can Religion Be Explained Without God?

To honor Daniel Dennett's immense contributors to the world of philosophy, we're posting a bonus interview today in his memory.

Religion without God? Most people believe that God exists and religion is God’s revelation. But some say religion, particularly the organization of religion into institutions, needs nothing supernatural to begin, develop and multiply. In other words, religion without God can flourish because personal psychology and group sociology drive religion.

Daniel Dennett was an American philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist. He was most recently Professor Emeritus at Tufts University.

Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[supereliteZero]

RIP. May you and your invaluable contributions to modern philosophy be long remembered.

[wlnsnoe]

Dennett was an author of some of the best books I´ve read. Great humour, great person.

Now, the reason för religious beliefs is simple, it is the fear of death. Religious persons do not admit that when you die, you do not longer exists. They find all kinds of elaborate explanations, there is a soul which continues to live in heaven - that is if you have behaved.

An atheist i.e an honest person knows that you live for a while and then you go back to the status you had before you were born.

[avi]

RIP. Fortunate to attend his lecture in Boston...🙏🏼... grateful for your intellectual courage...

[-by-_Publishing_LLC]

I just learned that Dennett passed away today. He was a profound philosopher that I greatly enjoyed. I've been working the past six months on an animated video, and he is one of the 10 animated characters along with Sabine Hossenfelder, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Edward Witten, Richard Dawkins, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, J.K. Rowling, Marcelle Hanselaar, and the Pope.

I'll include a dedication to Dennett at the beginning.

[TimBitts]

In 1980 I knew an 80 year old man who went to the same church for 40 years. When I asked him about belief in God, he said, "I am an atheist. I like the teaching. I like the people." He passed on, but I still think of him as the finest Christian I have met.

[salmansheikh]

Rest in oblivion Mr Denett thanks for breaking down religion for the rest of us

[daylightwall]

Rest in peace Dan. The world is poorer without you❤

[mariocisneros]

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Mr. Dennett over the years, and I'll miss his perspective on life's most profound mysteries. Goodbye sir and thank you.

[oganla]

Oh ! Dan dennet gone 😢.
Am so sad to hear this.
Such a legend

[markbrown]

I'm a huge fan of Daniel Dennet. For me he advanced the topic of atheism and the analysis of religion.

[henk-]

Rest in peace mr. Dennett!

And I've thought about the usefulness of religion. There are many ways and levels to think about it but if you look at the individual level.

Religion gives a structure, a set of rules to live by. Humans are a creature of habit and having to set up all of that structure yourself can be exhausting. Religion gives a sense of purpose, it gives you comfort thinking that a father like figure cares for you and gives you guidance and support, it gives you an explanation for what is dark and unknown. So you don't have to worry about it. And it gives a sense of community, a community of like minded individuals meeting each other once/twice times a week or more, giving you the feeling that you're not alone.

In a way, I sometimes wish I could've been a believer given the reasons I've pointed out above. But I just can't believe in something without evidence. I will keep searching for my own meaning and purpose, my own sense of community. without having to turn to a supernatural being.

[ricksantana]

Dan Dennett will surely be missed farewell Sir…

[Raj]

Love u Dan dennett.
Deeply saddened that u are no more. U are my top intellectual hero. A foremost philosopher and thinker of modern age. Ur name and work will live forever.

[dl]

Beautiful man, Dan Dennett! Great philosopher, great human being! 👍🏼RIP Dan!

[rodrigolabarre]

One of the biggest influences in my life. Your work is amazing and we will make sure it keeps being alive. Thank you for your contribution to the world and, personally, to my life.

Also, how amazing is Robert's reactions to Dan in this interview. So cute

[vitus.verdegast]

God is a symbolic character in the dramas we create about our own desires and fears. Religion is a language by which we communicate our values throughout society and between generations. Children understand personalities more readily than they grasp philosophical concepts, so we personify abstractions in the form of heroes and deities.

[sunyamarpie]

I'm thankful we were on earth school together. I survived Catholic school in part because our paths crossed.

[williamwightman]

I agree. It is not about the veracity of your religious claim, it is about the behavior that those beliefs have engendered over the ages. Practical religious intuition is over 50, 000 years in terms of first egalitarian societies and then eventually priest and shaman-led belief systems. Individual and to a lesser extent group behavior is based on agency assumptions and the dangers and benefits of those agencies. The agents need not exist in reality, Mr. Dennett was spot on. Billions of modern religious adherents are still supposing that the shadows on the cave walls are real. This reminds me of "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins.

[lainet]

RIP. A big loss. Today, more than ever, we need more people like Dan Dennett to counter the anti-science religious bollocks.

[jonmerrick]

“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”

-Matthew 15:14 KJV

Most people forget the first part of this verse when remembering it but I find it to be the most haunting part of it having once been an atheist.