Religious Fictionalism

Abstract

Abstract This chapter begins with simple accounts of religious error theory and fictionalism. It then provides more complex accounts of religious fictionalism and religion, in particular drawing a distinction between original and parasitic religious fictionalism. According to the former, fictionalism is proposed to capture the attitude of everyone who participates in a religion; according to the latter, it is proposed to capture the attitude of only some participants, who gain benefits of participation only if there are others who are sincere believers. The author argues that original religious fictionalism is untenable: the goods that are plausibly delivered by religion depend on its being believed. Parasitic religious fictionalism is also found to be untenable. Different accounts of the fictionalist proposal are canvassed and criticized. The chapter concludes with a discussion of some objections that might be raised against the case that the author has presented.