Around 70% of professional philosophers are atheists and only around 19% are theists. However, among experts in the philosophy of religion specifically, it’s the other way around. Why is that? Believers would probably say that the philosophers of religion know something the rest of us do not, whereas atheists would tend to think that the percentages reflect a greater tendency for believers to get involved in the philosophy of religion. A new study has been done confirming the ‘selection bias’ explanation. It’s nice to have the reassurance that random selection of experts reflects my opinion. That said, I won’t make too much out of this, because honestly I would not have suddenly converted if the polling had gone the other way around. I have read numerous books, papers, and online material from the best and brightest believers on the face of the earth, and have seen a huge number of debates to top it all off. In all that, I have not seen any argument or reason that was persuasive, whereas my reading of the atheist literature shows a host of really good reasons to affirm the negative (Ockham’s razor, evil, evolution).
