Abstract
On the standard view, an agnostic might commit non-doxastically to religion because she wants to receive some goods, which might be either natural or supernatural in kind. I broaden the picture by showing how the agnostic must also take negative factors into account. Negative mundane factors should be avoided as far as possible by the agnostic, and in extreme cases, even at the price of giving up supernatural goods. Negative supernatural factors, like eternal torment, work differently. An agnostic who considers an eternity of suffering in hell a live possibility might rationally make a religious commitment in order to avoid it. Non-doxastic religion is commonly conceived as requiring a pro-attitude. If fear can have the impact I suggest, we must broaden the picture to allow for a negatively based commitment as well. To make explicit the kind of attitude relevant here, I offer an analysis of fear as a rational, non-doxastic attitude.
Highlights
In recent literature, the idea that a religious commitment does not require religious belief is steadily on the rise
There are several negative factors the agnostic must take into account when considering a non-doxastic religious commitment
I have made a crude distinction between natural and supernatural bads, negative counterparts to the natural and supernatural goods commonly discussed when assessing the rationality of a belief-less engagement with religion
Summary
The idea that a religious commitment does not require religious belief is steadily on the rise. According to religious non-doxasticism, what is vital is not that the subject believes p, but that she considers p an epistemic possibility As long as this is the case, a religious engagement can be based on epistemically weaker attitudes than belief, like hope or acceptance (Alston 1996; Howard-Snyder 2013; Palmqvist 2019a). In this way, non-doxasticism makes religion available for the agnostic. The introduction of significant negative factors makes clear that a non-doxastic commitment might be rationally based on negative attitudes such as fear.
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