In this assigned reading by Bertrand Russell, he voices his opinion that this world is not based on an intelligent designer and that there is not means to an end when it comes to life on this planet. Much like the stance of Dennent on this same particular issue, Russell believes that this is not necessarily a bad thing. He believes, “That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave.” In my humble opinion, and apparently in the opinion of Dennent and Russell as well, there is no real divine purpose for people other than their own purposes for themselves. There is no “divine” calling. We are nothing more than a collection of evolutionary adaptations over hundreds of thousands of years.
The main theme of this particular thought process is that this is not necessarily a bad thing. The truth shall set you free rings true here. As Russell so eloquently puts it, “no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's habitation henceforth be safely built.” I believe this to be so utterly true; however, if one is religious that is not a bad thing in terms of living your life with some well grounded moral values. These “moral” values are just good ways to live your life which have been passed down from generation to generation. It is possible that humans noticed a pattern on how to live life to successfully pass on their genes and contorted a set of guidelines, called “moral” values, to live by. To think that we humans can think so deeply and hold such complex ideals is truly a testament to how far the process of evolution has come.
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