books of interest

Preliminary Thoughts about Stephen Meyer’s Signature in the Cell, Part 2

Re-reading Theism and Explanation by Gregory Dawes suggested another potential logical problem with Stephen Meyer’s argument in The Signature in the Cell.  Remember that Meyer explicitly provides the logical form of his argument. Premise One: Despite a thorough search, no material causes have been discovered that demonstrate the power to produce large amounts of specified information. Premise Two: Preliminary Thoughts about Stephen Meyer’s <I>Signature in the Cell</I>, Part 2

Did Jesus Exit? – Part 1

Let me lay my prejudices out on the table, before I get into the pros and cons about Bart Ehrman’s case for Jesus being an actual historical person. My current opinion is that it is very likely that Jesus existed, but I don’t think that anything about Jesus is certain, so I would allow for Did Jesus Exit? – Part 1

Preliminary Thoughts about Stephen Meyer’s Signature in the Cell

I’ve been reading Stephen C. Meyer’s massive book, Signature in the Cell. For those who are unfamiliar with the book, it is a sophisticated defense of the intelligent design (ID) hypothesis. Meyer argues that intelligent design is the best explanation for the origin of biological, functionally specified information. In other words, Meyers is not arguing Preliminary Thoughts about Stephen Meyer’s <I>Signature in the Cell</I>

Books I’d Like to Read Someday

The Mystery of Existence: Why Is There Anything At All? – John Leslie & Robert Lawrence Kuhn, eds. (Wiley-Blackwell, April 2013) This compelling study of the origins of all that exists, including explanations of the entire material world, traces the responses of philosophers and scientists to the most elemental and haunting question of all: why Books I’d Like to Read Someday

Richard Swinburne’s newest book: Mind, Brain, and Free Will

This book will be published May 15, 2013. Here is the book’s description on Amazon: Mind, Brain, and Free Will presents a powerful new case for substance dualism (the idea that humans consist of two parts–body and soul) and for libertarian free will (that humans have some freedom to choose between alternatives, independently of the Richard Swinburne’s newest book: Mind, Brain, and Free Will

Oxford Handbook of Atheism contents

Here’s the contents list of a book coming out in about a year, with some chapters appearing online earlier. It should be interesting… The Oxford Handbook of Atheism [FINAL CONTENTS LIST] Editors: Stephen Bullivant (St Mary’s University College) and Michael Ruse (Florida State University) Introduction: The Study of Atheism – Stephen Bullivant (St Mary’s) and Oxford Handbook of Atheism contents