RT Article
T1 Can You Be Grateful to a Benefactor Whose Existence You Doubt?
JF Religions
VO 13
IS 12
A1 Manela, Tony
LA English
PB MDPI
YR 2022
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1823928447
AB Among philosophers who study gratitude, there is much disagreement about what gratitude is and when it is called for. One thesis no one has questioned, however, is the thesis that in order to be grateful to a benefactor, a beneficiary must believe that that benefactor exists. In this essay, I lay out novel reasons to doubt this thesis, and I explore a striking implication of rejecting it: the implication that doubters of various kinds—not just religious people in periods of doubt, but also lifelong agnostics, and even some atheists—might be capable of gratitude to God. I begin by developing a hypothetical case that demonstrates people can be grateful to human benefactors whose existence they doubt. My case shows that gratitude to a doubted benefactor is consistent with hoping that benefactor turns out not to exist. I then show how my case implies that theists in periods of doubt, agnostics, and a particular kind of atheist could be grateful to God, despite a lack of belief in his existence, and despite a lack of faith in God.
K1 Agnosticism
K1 Atheism
K1 Doubt
K1 cosmic gratitude
K1 Gratitude
K1 God
DO 10.3390/rel13121155