All entries by this author

Peter Tatchell on the Left and Human Rights *

Mar 22nd, 2007 | Filed by

Unlike global anti-apartheid movement, no global protests to support Zimbabwean struggle for democracy. … Read the rest



Students in Nigeria Murder Teacher *

Mar 22nd, 2007 | Filed by

After apparently accusing her of desecrating the Koran, police say. … Read the rest



A Dialogue with the Diggers

Mar 22nd, 2007 | By R Joseph Hoffmann

Scene: At the tombs, outside Jerusalem:

Professor T: It’s got to be here somewhere. The map the antiquities people gave us says there’s a housing development on the site.

Jacob.: It doesn’t matter. You’ve seen one tomb….

Prof. T: No, we have to get this right. The archaeology has to support my theory….

Jacob: I know, the caliphate. What’s that about?

Prof T: Jesus was married. Maybe had a son. Heirs—but James took over from him when he died.

Jacob: James who? There was a James Christ?

Prof T: If I am right, we are literally standing on top of the tomb of the Jesus family.

Jacob: It is exciting. But there’s nothing left in the tomb, right?

Prof T: … Read the rest



Primate Behavior and the Roots of Morality *

Mar 21st, 2007 | Filed by

Frans de Waal replies to philosopher critics.… Read the rest



Michael Walzer on the Left We Need *

Mar 21st, 2007 | Filed by

The real left should never be muffled or evasive.… Read the rest



Peer Seeks to Block Gay Rights Rules *

Mar 21st, 2007 | Filed by

‘Concerns that the regulations compromise religious liberty.’… Read the rest



The Wasteland – Inside Mugabe’s Crumbling State *

Mar 21st, 2007 | Filed by

Daily life is consumed by the struggle to eat and finding the money for medicines and school. … Read the rest



Indian Women Branded as Witches *

Mar 21st, 2007 | Filed by

Those not killed face humiliation, torture; belief is that shaming a woman weakens her evil powers.… Read the rest



Depends

Mar 21st, 2007 11:57 am | By

In other words there’s a difference between being convinced by something, so convinced that you are literally unable not to believe it, and being rationally convinced by it. Which is, indeed, interesting. It seems like a real problem, in a way – at least potentially. But maybe it is only potentially, not actually? If so, that too would be interesting. In other words – if there are few or no cases of (say) committedly rational people, with strong habits of questioning evidence, second-guessing their own inferences, and the like, who have (say) an unexpected religious experience – an experience like the experience Russell Stannard has when praying – and find themselves unable not to believe that the experience is veridical … Read the rest



Internal experience and rationality

Mar 21st, 2007 9:36 am | By

There’s this post on Talking Philosophy about religious experience and the fact that it can be or seem to be veridical, and the questions that fact raises.

The religious experience as veridical thing is interesting. If the experience genuinely has that quality – is it rational to take it at face value? Okay, I guess most people reading this will answer ‘no’ (and tell me off for suggesting such a thing). But I wonder…

I would say it isn’t entirely rational to take religious experience at face value as veridical, for reasons that don’t seem to appear in comments on that post; not exactly, anyway. I would say it isn’t rational because we know that experience can be misleading. That’s … Read the rest



Resist

Mar 20th, 2007 3:37 pm | By

From The Improbability of God again. Page 383.

If there were an all-good and all-powerful God who could act in time, then we would have better evidence than we have…Why would such a God hide? Some theists answer that, if the evidence for God were stronger, believers would not need faith.

But why is that an answer? Why is that an objection? Why is faith taken to be a good thing? Why is it supposed to be a loss if we don’t need it? Apart from the obvious protective reasons – the obvious contorted explanations that theists offer to explain inconvenient realities such as God’s strange failure ever to drop by and say hello.

Is the idea that faith is … Read the rest



Meaning

Mar 20th, 2007 2:57 pm | By

You’ll have seen this bit of wisdom before – possibly more than once.

In his conclusion, McGrath spoke of the limitations of science. Issues such as the meaning of life, he said, remain outside the scope of science.

In some senses, yes – but does it follow that religion is inside the scope of science? Is that what we’re meant to conclude? Probably, although the Baptist Press doesn’t say so (it’s not clear whether McGrath did or not). At any rate, let’s ponder what may be meant by that familiar trope.

I think what is meant by it is that science interferes with denial and therefore it interferes with certain ways of deriving meaning. I think that’s probably true – … Read the rest



Anthony Appiah on Slavery and Freedom *

Mar 20th, 2007 | Filed by

There’s no neat toggle switch between slave and free.… Read the rest



Religious Liberals Enable Fanatics *

Mar 20th, 2007 | Filed by

Now liberals as well as reactionaries embrace the term ‘secularist fundamentalism.’… Read the rest



When Medical Ethics Clash With Religious Beliefs *

Mar 20th, 2007 | Filed by

Doctors are increasingly accommodating patients’ religious beliefs, however odd.… Read the rest



Philosophy of religion or theology

Mar 19th, 2007 12:49 pm | By

There are a couple of posts at Talking Philosophy about Dawkins and theology and the former’s lack of interest in the latter. The basic issue is this comment of Dawkins’s in an interview:

Look, somebody who thinks the way I do doesn’t think theology is a subject at all. So to me it is like someone saying they don’t believe in fairies and then being asked how they know if they haven’t studied fairy-ology.

Which Talking Philosophy disputes:

So what about this claim? Is it necessary to know a fair bit about fairy-ology to show that belief in fairies is irrational? The answer is that it is certainly arguable that in some circumstances at least it is necessary.

I … Read the rest



Simple history

Mar 19th, 2007 12:14 pm | By

History, truth, myths, nationalism, violence, what to teach the children. It comes up a lot, that set of issues.

These days, Irish history lessons are more sophisticated. They deal happily with facts that have no place in a plain tale of heroes and tyrants…Why the change? First because in the 1980s, some people in Ireland became uneasy about the fact that a crude view of their national history was fuelling a conflict in the north of the island. Then came a fall in the influence of the Catholic church, whose authority had rested on a deft fusion between religion and patriotism. Also at work was an even broader shift: a state that was rich, confident and cosmopolitan saw less

Read the rest


Victor Stenger Reviewed *

Mar 19th, 2007 | Filed by

‘If there’s no God, who pulls up the next Kleenex?’… Read the rest



Alister McGrath and Daniel Dennett Discuss *

Mar 19th, 2007 | Filed by

McGrath says issues such as the meaning of life remain outside the scope of science. … Read the rest



Myths About Darwin *

Mar 19th, 2007 | Filed by

The story is more subtle, complex and interesting than those invented by the myth-makers.… Read the rest