One common attitude towards God is what we might call 'interested non-belief'. An 'interested non-believer' is someone who does not believe in God but who sees God’s existence as an attractive possibility. She therefore wants to remain open to the benefits that would be available if God were real. In this talk, Dr. Perlmutter argues that one way of cultivating this kind of openness is through engaging seriously with sacred music (i.e. choral music of the Western, classical tradition). Such music, he suggests, is especially good at evoking a particular kind of desire for God: one that can give the desirer significant knowledge about God, even without belief in God's reality and even if the desire is not satisfied. Desire of this kind can therefore start to familiarise a person with God’s nature and propel her onwards in the spiritual quest. Thus if God turns out to be real and becomes manifest in one's experience, one will be in a good position to recognise God and seek out further indications of his reality.
Julian Perlmutter teaches philosophy and theology at Highgate School, London. He has also taught at the University of Cambridge and the Cambridge Theological Federation, and has held a research fellowship at King's College London. He is the author of the book Sacred Music, Religious Desire and Knowledge of God: The Music of Our Human Longing, as well as various journal articles. His work has focused on issues in the philosophy of religion, philosophy of desire and philosophy of music, with a special interest in how religious engagement might be open to those who profess non-belief.