Changing Ethics by Changing Brains
In his very enjoyable PBS series and the accompanying book, The Brain: The Story of You, neuroscientist David Eagleman writes about the famous “trolley dilemma.” Here is the scenario: A runaway trolley is barreling down the tracks towards a group of four workers. You see that they will all be killed unless you pull a … Changing Ethics by Changing Brains
Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Part 4
QUESTION 1: What is Hinman’s Central Claim about Josephus? There are two famous passages in a book by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus that appear to refer to Jesus. Joe Hinman wants to focus on the “brother passage”, the passage in Antiquities that mentions a person named “James” and refers to him as “the brother of Jesus … Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Part 4
Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Post on Part 4 Coming Soon
I have been working on understanding and evaluating Joe Hinman’s fourth argument for the existence of Jesus, and I believe my post on this subject will be ready to publish later this week. This argument is based on alleged references to Jesus found in a book by the Jewish historian Josephus, particularly the “brother passage”, … Debate: External Evidence for Jesus – Post on Part 4 Coming Soon
Melania Trump Speaks Again; Trump Team Denies Plagiarism
The Trump team was quick to deny the Melania Trump’s latest speech was plagiarized. They noted that “four score and seven years ago” is a common way of saying “eighty seven.” Eighty seven is just a common number they observed, nothing special about it. Further, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort noted that the phrase “dedicated … Melania Trump Speaks Again; Trump Team Denies Plagiarism
Has the Journal Philo Died?
I’ve heard privately from several philosophers that they submitted articles and heard nothing for months. It’s been years since a new issue of the journal came out. If you go to the journal’s new website, there is now a statement that “Philo is no longer accepting submissions.” I have no inside information about what may … Has the Journal <I>Philo</I> Died?
How Theists Can Avoid God-of-the-Gaps Arguments and Still Argue for God
Background: In the context of a review of Dan Barker’s book, Godless, Randal Rauser had a very brief, even cryptic, exchange in the combox for his about God-of-the-Gaps (GOTG) arguments. (See here and here.) That exchange led to his latest post, which you can read for yourself here. I’ve decided to post my response on my own blog here, … How Theists Can Avoid God-of-the-Gaps Arguments and Still Argue for God
C.S. Lewis, Hammer of the Theocrats
A comment on the Friendly Atheist site had a marvelous quote from C.S. Lewis. I ran it by Victor Reppert to make sure that it was genuine and to get its source. Victor verified that it is from the essay “Equality” in Lewis’s collection Present Concerns. It is the best succinct critique of theocracy that … C.S. Lewis, Hammer of the Theocrats
LINK: The Thomistic Natural Law of Animal Homosexuality
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LINK: Does Moralistic Religion Promote Human Sacrifice and Other Moralistic Violence?
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Correction to “Are Atheism and Moral Realism Logically Incompatible?”
The introduction to my post, “Are Atheism and Moral Realism Logically Incompatible?”, probably gave readers an impression I did not intend, namely, that, in my exchange at Victor Reppert’s Dangerous Idea blog, Steve linked arguments from moral ontology (for theism) and arguments from evil (from atheism). Steve didn’t do that there and I’m sorry if I created that … Correction to “Are Atheism and Moral Realism Logically Incompatible?”