Thoughts about Plantinga’s Interesting Paper on “Naturalism, Theism, Obligation, and Supervenience”
I’ve been studying Plantinga’s very interesting paper, “Naturalism, Theism, Obligation, and Supervenience.” (See here for Ex-Apologist’s very brief post about it.) Plantinga’s stated goal is to show that metaphysical naturalism cannot accommodate realism about moral obligation by “displaying the failure of the most natural way of arguing” that metaphysical naturalism can accommodate moral realism, viz., … Thoughts about Plantinga’s Interesting Paper on “Naturalism, Theism, Obligation, and Supervenience”
Hillarious Summary of the Argument from Shotgun Weddings Against Same-Sex Marriage
Over at Preliator pro Causa, Joe McKen presents a hillarious summary of what has to be one of the absolute worst arguments ever made against same-sex marriage. Marriage should be limited to unions of a man and a woman because they alone can “produce unplanned and unintended offspring,” opponents of gay marriage have told the … Hillarious Summary of the Argument from Shotgun Weddings Against Same-Sex Marriage
An Argument Against Moral Facts
In a seminar on Metaethics (h/t John Brunero) , I encountered an argument against moral facts that I hadn’t heard before. Here is a brief sketch: (1) We’re justified in believing in some fact only if it plays a role in the explanation of our observations and other non-moral facts. (2) Moral facts don’t play … An Argument Against Moral Facts
Pro-Life Atheists
Hemant Mehta’s post about pro-life atheists is a great reminder of the diversity among nontheists. While the stereotype of atheists, at least in the U.S., is that we are all liberal on a variety of issues, that isn’t the case. Pro-life atheists are an example.
Podcast: Objective morality and atheism; the evil god challenge; risks posed by religion
I did a podcast for Malcontent’s Gambit here. It’s about 45 mins long. Alan and I got into some interesting topics, including: whether atheists can allow for absolute moral values, my evil god challenge, and the potential dangers posed by religion.
Ordination of Women Priests
I find it fascinating to follow in-house disagreements among Christians, such as the disagreement about whether women can be ordained as priests. At First Things, David Mills blogs about a video entitled, “Ordain a Lady.” This led me to do a search on the topic, “Why won’t the Catholic church ordain women?” That led me … Ordination of Women Priests
Herman Phillipse on God, Ethics, and Evolution
Humanism for Children: A Reply to William Lane Craig
William Lane Craig is right. There has been “a resurgence of interest in arguments for God’s existence.” So-called “new atheists” aside, what he fails to mention is that there has also been a resurgence of interest in arguments against God’s existence by philosophers like J.L. Schellenberg, Quentin Smith, Paul Draper, Stephen Maitzen, Michael Martin, and … Humanism for Children: A Reply to William Lane Craig
The Argument from First-Order Ethical Beliefs for Moral Realism
Definitions first-level moral belief: a belief that something is good or evil or that something is of equal or greater value than something else second-level moral belief: a belief about some or all first-level moral beliefs The Argument As far as I can tell, the argument from ordinary language originated with John Post, but has … The Argument from First-Order Ethical Beliefs for Moral Realism
Atheist Ethicist: Morality and Questions Belonging to Science
Over at the Atheist Ethicist, Alonzo Fyfe comments on Baggini, Krauss, and Coyne on science and morality. In this field, among these people, it would seem that somebody would start weeding out the nonsense claims. Yet, I continue to find statements that would embarrass a student in Philosophy 121: Introduction to Ethics. If there is … Atheist Ethicist: Morality and Questions Belonging to Science