Nozick: God Cannot Prove His Existence

Although God might exist, there is no way for Him to prove it to humanity, Porter Professor of Philosophy Robert Nozick told an audience of about 150 at Hillel House's weekly Sabbath "table talk" yesterday.

Since God cannot prove His existence, Nozick argued, people should not become frustrated by doubts of faith.

"It is possible that the most perfect being has no connection to the universe, and that's where the trouble comes in," said Nozick.

Nozick said that an attempt by God to communicate proof of His existence might involve stating this outright to people or by "some underlying trend of the universe," such as the motion of elementary particles. Neither method is foolproof, though, since an outright statement could come from aliens and the motion of particles could occur as an aberrance. At present, he said, no method for such a communication has been devised.

Since humans cannot formulate proof of a perfect being's existence, Nozick said, belief in God is based on a faith based upon personal experiences.

"Faith is caused by an encounter with something very real, but which has extraordinary qualities which intimate the divine; the belief is due to an encounter which specially mirrors some divine quality."

Nozick explained that belief in God may in part be an indirect result of confidence in the meaning of one's own personal experiences.

"Perhaps faith is a faith in one's self, the belief that one wouldn't feel so moved by the encounter if it weren't divine, a trust in one's own deepest positive responses. To doubt it would involve a self-alienation."