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Science, Religion, and Secularism Part VII: Plato and the Geometric Model of Knowledge

October 29, 2017 by Daniel Halverson 1 Comment

“Let no one ignorant of geometry enter.” –Said to have been inscribed above the doorway of Plato’s Academy

Stop Using the President’s Name. Just Call Him “That Asshole.”

October 29, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 26 Comments

It is our moral duty to call things as they are, and stop giving the asshole power by polluting the air with his name. Stop the erosion of our political discourse by using the hashtag #theasshole.

Louis C.K., Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche on How to Suffer and Be Happy

October 24, 2017 by Rufus Hickok 6 Comments

Why does happiness so often present itself as a problem?

Science, Religion, and Secularism Part VI: Jonathan Hedley Brooke, Complexity Thesis

October 18, 2017 by Daniel Halverson 4 Comments

“Serious scholarship in the history of science has revealed so extraordinarily rich and complex a relationship between science and religion that general theses are difficult to sustain. The real lesson turns out to be complexity.” –Jonathan Hedley Broke

Is Capitalism Moral? (Reactions to a Video by Walter Williams)

October 12, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 7 Comments

Yes, capitalism has provided a high standard of living, but how should goods other than monetary ones play into a public policy debate? Mark riffs off of Adam Smith and a video by Walter Williams.

Fictional Characters: Cross-Platform Software

October 10, 2017 by Anthony Kroytor Leave a Comment

“Batman is haunted by his dark past yet perseveres in fighting crime.” We know that Batman is a fictional character, but nonetheless talk about him as if he were a real person. But is Batman real or not? Instead of accusing him of non-existence, or granting him reality as an abstract object, could we not instead regard fictional characters as software running on the hardware of our brains?

Science, Religion, and Secularism Part V: Ian Barbour—The Synthesis Model

October 5, 2017 by Daniel Halverson 2 Comments

“I need the binocular approach of science and religion if I am to do any sort of justice to the deep and rich reality of the world in which we live.”
–John Polkinghorne (Physicist, Anglican Priest)

Art, Authenticity, and Film

October 3, 2017 by Rafe McGregor Leave a Comment

The Romantic film-philosophy of Cavell, Mulhall, Sinnerbrink, and Smith completes the triangulation of values among the ethical, cognitive, and aesthetic: in the same way that film links Smith’s innovations in the disciplines of aesthetics, philosophy, and culture, authenticity links the ethical, cognitive, and aesthetic values of film.

Demagogue Lover: Aristophanes’s “Wasps” in the Age of Trump

September 26, 2017 by Dan Johnson 1 Comment

“Surely if liberalism has a single desperate weakness it is an inadequacy of imagination: liberalism is always being surprised.” –Lionel Trilling

Science, Religion, and Secularism Part IV: Ian Barbour—The Dialogue Model

September 21, 2017 by Daniel Halverson 2 Comments

“God is also glorified in astronomy through my work.” –Johannes Kepler

Science, Religion, and Secularism, Part III: Ian Barbour—The Independence Model

September 14, 2017 by Daniel Halverson 2 Comments

“The Goal of Science is understanding lawful relations among natural phenomena. Religion is a way of life within a larger framework of meaning.”–Ian Barbour

On Integrative Encounters of the Cinematic Variety: Reflections on ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ on Its 40th Anniversary

September 8, 2017 by Wes Alwan 3 Comments

“Your father was a computer engineer; your mother was a concert pianist, and when the spaceship lands, they make music together on the computer.”

Science, Religion, and Secularism, Part II: Ian Barbour—The Conflict Model

September 7, 2017 by Daniel Halverson 9 Comments

“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.” –Richard Dawkins

Whose Country Is It? Whomever It Inhabits

September 6, 2017 by Wes Alwan 9 Comments

King Laius died at the Cleft Way, where he got in the way of an emigrant to Thebes who happened also to be his son. The prophecy was that Oedipus would be the death of Laius, and it was in the name of avoiding this fate that father and son worked together to seal it. Yet what truly made Oedipus Continue Reading …

Nothing So Absurd? (Part Two)

September 5, 2017 by Nicholas Joll Leave a Comment

In the second installment of a two-part series, Nicholas Joll examines a view that morality is impossible and explores the opportunities offered by possible worlds.

Science, Religion, and Secularism, Part I: Introduction

August 31, 2017 by Daniel Halverson 11 Comments

What are science, religion, and secularism? How have they interacted, historically, and what are the major issues in contemporary reflection on them? A new series explores these questions through the works of the scientists, theologians, and philosophers who have shaped the dialogue over the last century and a half.

Nothing So Absurd?

August 1, 2017 by Nicholas Joll 1 Comment

In the first installment of a two-part series, Nicholas Joll tries to convince us that, for one thing, fire is not hot and, for another, that sincerity is impossible.

Penn Jillette’s Deceptively Simple Rhetoric of Libertarianism

July 25, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 28 Comments

Consider his claims: 1) We do not know what’s best for other people and 2) Since governance is ultimately founded on the threat of violence, the government should only exert its power regarding those things that we would ourselves defend with a gun. They sound reasonable, but are interestingly wrong.

How Could Scalar Consequentialism Ever Lose at Chess?

July 18, 2017 by Andrius Kulikauskas Leave a Comment

Scalar consequentialism is an ethical theory that has us always choose the better option. That’s very much the way that today’s computer chess programs play. There’s a lot to learn from the study of their games against human chess players who use a different approach.

Political Defense Mechanisms

July 13, 2017 by Dave Millar 7 Comments

“Tradition must be defended,” says the political conservative, “it is the source of our highest and truest values.” Many traditional beliefs and practices may indeed have much to recommend them, but they also have a dark side.

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