Stephen Law

“But is it Art?!” Family resemblance concepts’ (Wittgenstein) explained simply (from my The Philosophy Gym)

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9. But is it Art? From my book The Philosophy Gym: 25 Short Adventures in Thinking. I mean they’d gone and fucking installed the work without me even being here. That’s just not on. This is my bed. If someone else installs it, it’s just dirty linen. If I do it, it’s art. Tracey Emin … “But is it Art?!” Family resemblance concepts’ (Wittgenstein) explained simply (from my The Philosophy Gym)

Erik Wielenberg’s argument re sceptical theism defended and developed – forthcoming in Religious Studies

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(revised 9 April 2014) Sceptical theism and a lying God – Wielenberg’s argument defended and developed   Stephen Law Department of Philosophy, Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W5 8HX UK s.law@heythrop.ac.uk     Abstract: Sceptical theists attempt to block the evidential argument from evil by arguing that a key premise of that … Erik Wielenberg’s argument re sceptical theism defended and developed – forthcoming in Religious Studies

Playing The Mystery Card (incl. McGrath vs Dawkins) from my book Believing Bullshit

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PLAYING THE MYSTERY CARD   Suppose critics point out that not only do you have little in the way of argument to support your particular belief system, there also seems to be powerful evidence against it. If you want, nevertheless, to convince both yourself and others that your beliefs are not nearly as ridiculous as … Playing The Mystery Card (incl. McGrath vs Dawkins) from my book Believing Bullshit

Philosophy and religion in Schools

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Religion and philosophy in schools (from Hand and Winstanley, Philosophy in Schools, Continuum 2008)) Is philosophy in schools a good idea? The extent to which early exposure to a little philosophical thinking is of educational benefit is, of course, largely an empirical question. As a philosopher, that sort of empirical study is not my area … Philosophy and religion in Schools

TV interview in Tehran

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I was at a philosophy of religion conference in Tehran, Iran last week – invited as an atheist to speak to and engage with assembled philosophers, cleric. etc. I appeared briefly on TV – unfortunately the bit of the interview they chose to broadcast was misleading as they cut the “but”… Go here: I was … TV interview in Tehran

What is humanism?

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What is Humanism?   “Humanism” is a word that has had and continues to have a number of meanings. The focus here is on kind of atheistic world-view espoused by those who organize and campaign under that banner in the UK and abroad.   We should acknowledge that there remain other uses of term. In … What is humanism?

Wielenberg’s Divine Lies, and McBrayer and Swenson’s response – my comments for feedback

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Skeptical Theism and Divine Deception: The McBrayer/Swenson response to Wielenberg   1. Skeptical Theism   Evidential arguments from evil often[i] take something like the following form:   If God exists, gratuitous evil does not exist. Gratuitous evil exists. Therefore, God does not exist   Gratuitous evil is evil for which there is no God-justifying reason. … Wielenberg’s Divine Lies, and McBrayer and Swenson’s response – my comments for feedback

Response to Randal Rauser’s response to my response to his shoddy review…

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Randal Rauser has responded to my suggestion that his review of my book Believing Bullshit was pretty shoddy (though not as shoddy as Martin Cohen’s in the THES). Go here. Understandable, I suppose. By combining selective quotation, misdirection and quite a lot of bluster, Rauser is quite successful at generating the impression I have been … Response to Randal Rauser’s response to my response to his shoddy review…