Faith No More - Professor Peter Boghossian on Why You Should Kick Your Faith to the Curb

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http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/faith-no-more/Content?oid=5876950

DR. PETER BOGHOSSIAN is a full-time faculty member in Portland State University's philosophy department who is well known around campus for directly challenging his student's faith-based beliefs. He's also had his fair share of criticism for such recent public lectures as "Jesus, the Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions: Just Say No!" and "Faith as a Cognitive Sickness," which drew hundreds of attendees.

MERCURY: You often speak out against faith, calling it a delusion and a cognitive sickness. How come?

PETER BOGHOSSIAN: Because enough is enough. A lot of people are sick and tired of being held hostage to the delusions of others, and I'm one of those people. I think that people are hungry for a frank, honest discussion about things—particularly about faith. To profess things you don't know for certain, and then claim the reason for your justification is faith? That doesn't contribute to the conversation. That's the end of the conversation.

How do you handle it in class when someone makes a faith-based claim?

I use the Socratic method—it's a way of asking people certain targeted questions. It's pointless for me to tell someone that their reasoning is wrong. Why should they listen to me? It's much better to help people understand why their reasoning is wrong so they can correct that.

So you're saying that using faith as a way of reaching conclusions isn't valid. I heard a guy in one of your talks say, "I wouldn't fly in a faith-based airplane."

Right. That's Matt Thorton—a friend of mine. Would you fly in a faith-based plane? No, of course not. If you wouldn't fly in a faith-based plane, why would you want to formulate a social institution based on faith? Why is it that we give more credence to values that come from a faith-based process when we formulate institutions and laws and conventions, but we don't in technology?

I was raised atheist/agnostic, but sometimes it appears that people of faith have better values, or at least they think they do and then I go along with it.

You put your finger on it. Faith comes with an almost moral edifice that people are expected to buy into. If somebody makes faith-based claims, that somehow means they're "better people," or good or virtuous people. I'm doing my best to undermine that notion. That's just not true.

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http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/faith-no-more/Content?oid=5876950

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1. Full interview well worth a read

I have R&K this one.

Boghossian is making similar claims and charges as Daniel C. Dennett's Breaking the Spell which addresses these and other issues in depth, detail, and clarity. Highly recommended read.

BTW, Dennett's position on the faith claim is that it is an exclusionary move, a bullying move which takes rational discussion off the table. Very similar to Boghassian. Wonder if these two philosophers are communicating with one another.