argument from design

Episode 168: Darwin’s “Origin of Species” (Part Two)

July 24, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 14 Comments

More on Darwin’s famous book. Why does it matter for philosophy, beyond providing an alternative to intelligent design? Is it really anti-religious? How can well tell if it’s really a scientific theory? Talking about a species evolving trait X to enable survival sounds teleological; is it really, and is that bad? Why would the mind develop through natural selection?

Continues from part 1, or just get the unbroken, ad-free Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!

End song: “I Live” by Jason Falkner, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #47.

Episode 168: Darwin’s “Origin of Species” (Part One)

July 17, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 10 Comments

On Charles Darwin’s 1859 book, ch. 1–4, 6, and 14. What are the philosophical ramifications of Darwin’s theory of evolution? We go through Darwin’s arguments, compare his views to other theories of evolution like Lamarck’s, and talk about how an evolutionary way of looking at things has influenced philosophers.

Episode 168: Darwin’s “Origin of Species” (Citizen Edition)

July 16, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 5 Comments

End song: “I Live” by Jason Falkner, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music #47.

Episode 167: Hume on Intelligent Design (Part Two)

July 10, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Continuing on David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779), with guest Stephen West. We get further into what’s wrong with the design argument and why Hume thinks that it’s merely a verbal dispute whether we want to say that God designed the orderly universe or just say that the universe is orderly. Also, the problem of evil!

Listen to part 1 first, or get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!

End song: “Shittalkers” by Ken Stringfellow, as interviewed on Nakedly Examined Music ep. 39.

Check out the St. John’s College Graduate Institute: partiallyexaminedlife.com/sjcgi.

Episode 167: Hume on Intelligent Design (Part One)

July 3, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer 4 Comments

On David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779). How should the scientifically minded argue for God’s existence? Is the order and complexity of nature enough to prove an infinite God of the traditional sort? With guest Stephen West.

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Episode 167: Hume on Intelligent Design (Philosophize This! Crossover) (Citizen Edition)

July 2, 2017 by Mark Linsenmayer Leave a Comment

On David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779). How would a scientifically minded person argue for the existence of God?

In Hume’s dialogue, a character named Cleanthes argues from this point of view for God’s existence based on the complexity and order apparent in nature: It looks designed. But how good is that argument, and is it enough to prove an infinite God of the traditional sort? With guest Stephen West.

End song: “Here Comes the Flood” by The Security Project. Listen to Mark’s interview with Trey Gunn on Nakedly Examined Music #21.

Greg Ganssle (via Pale Blue Dot) on Dawkins’s “Fitness” Argument

October 21, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 5 Comments

Yale Professor Greg Ganssle provides in this Pale Blue Dot episode what is perhaps a more charitable response to the new atheists than we did. First, he points out something I hadn’t quite considered in this way before: We at PEL complain about how difficult and tedious it is (or would be) to write something fit for a peer reviewed Continue Reading …

Victor Stenger on the Fine Tuning Argument

October 19, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 7 Comments

We were left at an impasse on the episode regarding the part of the argument from design referring to the fine-tuning of the universe to support life. Dawkins didn’t give enough detail about this for us really to understand, much less critique it, yet it seemed like a lot of what we were concerned about hinged on this argument. You Continue Reading …

Colbert on the Argument from Design

January 12, 2011 by Mark Linsenmayer 1 Comment

Via Luke Muehlahuser’s Common Sense Atheism, we see Stephen Colbert ripping on Bill O’Reilly’s spurious use of the teleological argument for the existence of God. The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Video Archive The obvious lesson here is that the argument from design is at the very least not so evidently persuasive that you can just refer Continue Reading …