Philosophy

A collection of 266 posts

Philosophy

The Loneliness of Philosophy

Here is a really interesting comment on my facebook page from a philosopher friend: For me, philosophy brings a certain kind of loneliness. Or it could just be me. certainly makes it hard to..."join in"...in so many situations - you know, the ones where you'

Naturalism

The Good Place Series: Janet, Mary's Room and the Chinese Room

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 it as a stimulus for a number of posts.

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

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

God's characteristics

God, Logic and the Euthyphro Dilemma

I have been discussing God's attributes of late, and the subject of logic is never far away. One aside to this - perhaps the very fundamental nature of it all - concerns logic itself and from whence it came. I am not talking about ideas of whether God

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

The Kalam Cosmological Argument: Creation and Nominalism

As many of you will know, I have recently written a new book concerning the Kalam Cosmological Argument (Did God Create the Universe from Nothing? Countering William Lane Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument), which has had some cracking reviews. This post is an extract from the book that looks at

Philosophy of Religion

Guest Post: Matt Gray on "Why everything is a pantheist".

Matt is someone whom I have recently met after he started commenting on A Tippling Philosopher's facebook page. As a local, he was also interested in coming to The Tippling Philosophers, which we recently resurrected and look like having some interesting new additions, of which he is one.

Abiogenesis

Answering Questions about Empiricism as Foundational: Abiogenesis, Language and Incredulity

Goodness me. Here's another comment from See that he demands is answered, dripping as it is with condescension, and full of naivety. This came in the middle of his points being soundly debunked. As ever, I write this not so much for him, but for all the other

empiricism

Empiricism Revisited: Intuition and Epistemic Priority

There was a really interesting comment on a thread on my original "Empiricism as Foundational" that would be good to stimulate more discussion. Here it is, from Joseph Graney. So, I would like to offer the following response (in an order unrelated to the above article): 1) Empiricism

Descartes

Answering Questions about Empiricism as Foundational: Knowing that We Know

I recently wrote a piece on empiricism as being foundational to philosophical approaches to epistemology. See Noevo got involved and gave a rare substantive comment. I’ll try a comment. Perhaps my much younger 61 year old mind, which broke free from atheism about 28 years ago and became ever

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

On Deduction and Induction and How They Relate to the Kalam

I will be reposting a previous article today because ideas of induction and deduction have come up in another post with a few asking for clarification. Here, I will look at deduction and induction in the context of how they relate to the Kalam Cosmological Argument. Alan Duval has also

Epistemology

Answering Questions about Empiricism as Foundational: Our Rational Nature

I wrote a piece recently entitled "Empiricism as Foundational" to which See Noevo, when prompted, finally actually said something of substance, and asked some questions and made some points. I would like to deal with them in this post. He stated: I’ll try a comment. Perhaps my

empiricism

Empiricism as Foundational

I have talked before about the empiricism vs rationalism debate that has taken place historically and presently in philosophical circles. Today, I am going to explore this a little further. As I said before... Rationalism The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that rationalists adopt at least one of three statements:

Deep Dive

The Probability of Nothing; the Necessity of Something

Here is another comment on the probability of nothingness, something that has piqued my interest over the last week or so. It comes from Ryan Covington on the facebook page for this blog (drop a Like if you have time!). Here's a thought along the same lines: what

Happiness

Hiram Crespo on the Epicurean Revival

Some time ago, Hiram Crespo, author of a book on Epicurean philosophy, contacted me to see if I would post something which he originally wrote for the AHA here. Check it out, and comment below with your thoughts. Thanks to Hiram for providing this for ATP consumption! Hiram Crespo is

math

The Worth of A Priori Probability

In an interesting conversation the other day, we were discussing probabilities concerning nothingness. As Hans-Richard Grumm stated: My point was that there isn't just a single state of "existence": there are states with 1, 2, 3 ... particles/fields/somethings with certain properties, interactions etc. and a

Deep Dive

Quote of the Day: Hans-Richard Grumm on the Probability of Nothingness

This is a head-scratcher, this one. It comes from Hans-Richard Grumm in respins to a post Bert Bigelow wrote the other day: "Why is there anything?" Since there is only exactly one state of reality where there is nothing, but an infinity of states where there is something,

crime

Free Will Skepticism and Criminal Behavior: Caruso's Public Health-Quarantine Model

I am reposting this because it has come up in conversations about free will recently and is thus pertinent again: The great Gregg Caruso has produced a fascinating looking paper which I can't wait to read. I have often advocated the quarantine method in crime and punishment. This

determinism

With a Lack of Free Will, Do We Still Have Moral Responsibility?

The term "moral responsibility" is an interesting one in the context of moral philosophy and free will and determinism. The question is often raised as to whether we can have moral responsibility given a single path through life. If we do not have libertarian free will (the real

causality

Free Will: “We are influenced, but not determined” – the 80-20% approach invalidated

I was having a conversation by email the other day concerning free will, and I was reminded of this I wrote some time back. It is as a result of one of the most common (and I would argue rather naive) defences of libertarian free will that I hear. So

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

The Kalam Cosmological Argument and the Fallacy of Composition

As many of you will know, I have recently written a new book concerning the Kalam Cosmological Argument (Did God Create the Universe from Nothing? Countering William Lane Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument), which has had some cracking reviews. When I recently posted a video by someone called CosmicSkeptic, and

Cosmology

CosmicSkeptic and the Kalam Cosmological Argument

As you know, I am mildly obsessed with the Kalam Cosmological Argument and my last book concerned debunking the argument: Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?: Countering William Lane Craig's Kalam Cosmological Argument Anyway, Geoff Benson put me on to this video, by a young but competent

crime

Nordic Prisons, and a Visit from a Retired US Superintendant

Since were talking about crime and punishment the other day, I thought it would be worth sharing this. What are prisons for? Retribution? Rehabilitation? Deterrence? Justice?

free will

The Benefits of Dispelling the Myth of Libertarian Free Will

I'd be interested in generating some conversation in the comments here. Let's imagine the truth of the myth of libertarian free will, for the sake of argument (though I have outlined this many times in a lot of my writing). What do you think the advantages

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

Kalam Cosmological Argument: Causality and a Circular Argument

As some of you will know, my most recent book was on the Kalam Cosmological Argument, the cosmological argument that deals with the beginning of the universe, concluding in favour of it having a cause (i.e. God). the argument is favoured by apologists the world over. It has obsessed