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TechnoratiPost tagged with epistemology
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Is doubt good? Is skepticism a virtue?
September 14th, 201103:33 PM ETWhile reading through Michael Shermer's enjoyable book How We Believe: Science, Skepticism and the Search for God (New York: Henry Holt, 2000) I came across the following passage: "Doubt is good. Questioning belief is healthy. Skepticism is okay. It is more than okay, in fact. Skepticism is a virtue and science is a valuable tool that makes s... -
From Jerusalem to Salem: A Conversation with Matt McCormick
September 06th, 201111:05 AM ETAfter being ignored by all the essayists of The End of Christianity for so long it's nice finally to get a little attention. And now Matt McCormick has responded to my critique ... promptly ... on a holiday (Labor Day) ... courteously ... with arguments. Looks like I hit the jackpot. Thanks for joining us Matt! Now down to business. Matt has not ... -
Has Stephen Law been sucked into an intellectual black hole? A Review of Law’s “Believing Bulls**t”
August 02nd, 201111:04 AM ETStephen Law. Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole. Prometheus, 2011, 271 pp. ISBN: 978-1-61614-411-1. In the vein of Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World (Ballantine, 1997) and Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things (Holt, 2002), comes this new book by Stephen Law, senior lecturer in philosophy ... -
What is the Greatest Enemy of Faith?
June 27th, 201112:56 PM ETThe other day I came across the following passage in a Peter Kreeft book: "Dullness, not doubt, is the strongest enemy of faith, just as indifference, not hate, is the strongest enemy of love." (Everything you ever wanted to know about Heaven, 20) That gets my vote for thought provoking quote of the day, and it rings true to my own experience. As... -
Dawkins’ infinite regress and why it really matters
May 23rd, 201110:13 AM ETOver the last several days I have launched several important charges against Richard Dawkins' letter to his daughter . These critiques have been, for the most part, simply ignored by the many enthusiasic Dawkins apologists who have lept to his defense this week. So I am going to slow right down and lay out a fundamental critique more fully. I will... -
Richard Dawkins’ foolish advice to his daughter
May 19th, 201102:52 PM ETThanks to Beetle for linking us to Richard Dawkins' advice to his then ten year old daughter. I call it foolish because any advice that is self-referentially defeating is foolish. First, Dawkins tells his daughter: "Something that you learn by direct seeing (or hearing or feeling...) is called an observation. Often evidence isn't just observatio... -
Does extraordinary uncleanliness require extraordinary soap?
March 30th, 201103:28 PM ETOnce again the claim has surfaced: "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." And once again I have had to shoot it down. Now what could be the problem with a principle so symmetrically reasonable? Grey days produce grey moods. Cold weather requires a cold weather jacket. Why wouldn't extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence?... -
I have an interstellar spacecraft in my basement. Come take a look!
September 06th, 201012:44 PM ETLet’s talk about testimony some more in dialogue with Silver Bullet. In a recent comment SB quotes little ole’ me as I observe: “So it is testimony that wears the trousers (to be politically incorrect) and it is through testimony that we can gain all sorts of properly basic beliefs ... Absent defeaters we are justified in holding those belie... -
The Indistinguishable Bible
September 05th, 201010:27 AM ETTwo issues need to be dealt with before I, finally, hopefully, I wish, I hope, can get back to reviewing The Christian Delusion: the epistemic status of testimony (of which there is no end of confusion) and the "divine detection" objection to the Bible. I'll deal with the latter here (although I've already addressed it, I'll happily do it again. On... -
Assorted Replies to the Faith, Reason, and Believing the Bible is the Word of God Discussion
July 02nd, 201011:04 AM ETTentative Apologist: "I have just completed a two day jaunt in the mountains and am now deep in the wilds of southern British Columbia (the westernmost Canadian province). Hence, the radio silence for the last couple days. I offer here scattered replies to the discussion in The Tentative Apologist Reader on Faith and Reason. I will catch up with ot...
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An exploration of faith, knowledge, reason and doubt (with the occasional trite pop culture reference thrown in for good measure).
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