Jonathan MS Pearce

Comedy|Deep Dive

The Good Place Series: Swearing

Warning: there is swearing in this piece. Obviously. I have got into the Netflix series The Good Place, thanks to fellow ATPer Jeremiah Traeger. It's well worth a watch for its philosophical content, dealing with it with a light-hearted touch. As a result, I am going to use

atheism

Give Me Your Deconversion Account Submissions!

As some of you might know, I have been running a series of deconversion accounts, as seen below. I would love if anyone else has an account they would like to put to words and get up here. Please let me know if you do. Please check out my book

atheism

Why the Atheist's Obsession with God?

Hi recently received this question on Facebook from someone I used to work with: When I was at uni I wrote a thesis on religious connotations in science fiction films. I also don’t believe in god but find it fascinating how those that don’t believe in god seem

mythology

Top 5 Deities To Believe In

Myth Education (Onus Books, 2017) is a fabulous book that looks, with humour (but not shying away from the nitty gritty), at several pantheons of worldwide deities. David Fletcher (formerly of the awesome podcast Reasonable Doubts) has collated some wonderful artwork to accompany each of the deities discussed therein. There

end of the world

What Would You Do?

Time for another apocalyptic excerpt for your delectation (or not). This is another section from my first fiction book (Survival of the Fittest: Metamorphosis), and we return to the two characters that appeared in the last excerpt I posted (concerning evolution). This pair is an unlikely combination (excuse some robust

Education|Deep Dive

Foetal Viability, Education and a "Drain on Society"

This is an important subject and article that contains some difficult ideas, but here is a conversation that we should not shy away from having. I was urged to write this by someone working in the relevant area to whom I was talking today. Several years ago, I had a

equality

Quote of the Day: Nomad on Roy Moore

Nomad had these comments to say on my recent article concerning Roy Moore, and he's spot on. I apologise myself for overlooking what is clearly absolutely terrible. While the accusations against Moore are serious now, he's called for LGBT people to be killed by the state

faith schools

Creationist State School Teaches ‘Universe is 5,778 Years Old,’ Forbids Male/Female Contact

This is a couple of weeks ago and comes from the Humanists UK. I am surprised that such a thing has been able to happen in a state school. This is why religious schooling should be shelved. A state faith school in London is teaching its children that ‘the age

Republican Party

Roy Moore, Polarised Politics, Double Standards and Ignoring Moral Disasters

Most readers will probably know about the evangelical candidate for the Alabama state seat, Roy Moore, and the sexual allegations. There are now some four women cited as claiming sexual abuse involving minors (one of the women being fourteen at the time, and with some thirty people on the record

abstracts

What Is Personhood? Setting the Scene.

I recently gave a talk on personhood to the University of the Third Age at one of my local schools. My talk was the first one of a day that was designed to look at what it means to be a human. After my piece, an evolutionary behavioural scientist gave

atheism

It's That Time of Year Again!

I'll soon be thrashing out the old nativity debates and articles again. It seems like only yesterday, though that could be because they got resurrected when Dave Armstrong came knocking mid-year. Inthe meantime, stock those stockings and present those presents... Let me try to persuade you to part

Cosmology

Before the Big Bang: The No Boundary Proposal

Here is the latest addition to the skydivephil YouTube series exploring competing models for the origin of the universe. It is just out and features an exclusive interview with Stephen Hawking, James Hartle and Thomas Hertog. The film aims to explain their No Boundary model of quantum cosmology to those

determinism

The Causes of Human Behavior - Good and Bad

A friend of mine recently sent this to me; I thought it would be good for stimulus, summing up some of Robert Sapolsky's writing. I would love to find time to read Behave - it sounds a tour de force.The Causes of Human Behavior -- Good and

consequentialism

Quote of the Day: Illithid on Consequentialism

Sometimes things surprise me. Today, it was that, after all these months and perhaps years of See Noevo commenting here, he doesn't seem to have a working knowledge of one of the most common moral subjects on this blog. Consequentialism is a staple diet for conversation here, and

personhood

New Talk on Personhood

I am giving a talk to the University of the Third Age in Gosport on Thursday this week. It is a whole day affair and the day starts with my talk on "What it means to be human" in the morning (which I will use to talk about

Obama

Trump Has No Vision or Positive Driving Moral Force

This comment from Michael Neville is Quote of the Day stuff: Another problem that Trump has is that he doesn't know what he wants, other than self-aggrandizement. He has some vague idea about what his hard-core supporters want or more often don't want and to keep

God's characteristics

Problem of Evil: Issues with Skeptical Theism and Theodicies

The problem of evil is this last week's subject of choice! One problem for many of the theodicies (defensive reasons as to why suffering should exist in light of an OmniGod) is natural evil, qua hurricanes, carnivorousness and general plate tectonic mayhem. Oh, and drought. And mayhap AIDS.

Obama

Quote of the Day: Andy Schueler on Trump and See Noevo

This is blisteringly good, as ever. Andy Schueler, absent for too long, bangs See Noevo to rights: I know. You and virtually all liberals and Dems. Don't forget every single independent and conservative with even just a shred of decency. And that’s what’s been so great

Philosophy of Religion

Problem of Evil: Losing Your Leg

Earlier this year, one of my friends lost most of his leg due to an infection of sorts. This was pretty traumatic for him and put him through a great deal of suffering. Obviously, being suffering, if you believed in an all loving god, then this would need to be

Obama

Obama vs Trump: No Contest

I cannot begin to express how much I dislike Trump as a human being. Such narcissism and nefarious moral values. What, to me, gives a reflection of Trump's moral character is to see how he pales into the merest of moral shadows in light of Obama, his character

consequentialism

Problem of Evil: Heaven as Compensation or Moral Justification

The difference matters.

Counter Apologist

Discussing the Problem of Evil: Skeptical Theism and More

Given C. Peterson's contribution to the blog yesterday, I thought I would extend the conversation by reposting an old chat I had with Counter Apologist and Justin Schieber, where we ruminated on the problem of evil, it defence in skeptical theism, and all manner of things thereabouts. Have

God's characteristics

Suffering and an Omnibenevolent God

Here is a guest post from C. Peterson who has recently been making some great contributions in commenting here. In this piece, he looks at the logical problem of evil (as opposed to the evidential problem of evil), suggesting some theodicies (such as the soul-building theodicy) and ideas like heaven

Biblical Exegesis

Noah's Ark and Its Problems

Yes, as mentioned before, the Noah's Flood story is a complete mess. Here, NonStampCollector shows just how problematic it is, as a coherent account. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_BzWUuZN5w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLr5vl-n0Bo

faith schools

Report into England’s third largest academy chain raises fresh questions over faith ethos academies

This concerns something very close to my heart, having previously worked in a faith school for almost a decade, and being heavily involved in education, including on a political and philosophical basis. Thi comes from Humanists UK: The status of ‘faith ethos’ academies has been brought back into focus this