Subscribe to get parts 1, 2, and 3 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing from part one on bits of Thomas Aquinas: Selected Philosophical Writings, completing our analysis of his arguments for the existence of God and then turning to eternity and the possibility of actually talking about God. Sponsor: Visit functionhealth.com/PEL to get the data Continue Reading …
Ep. 378: Aquinas on God and Mind (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing on bits of Thomas Aquinas: Selected Philosophical Writings, completing our analysis of his arguments for the existence of God and then turning to eternity and the possibility of actually talking about God. One theme that runs through all these is the incommensurability between empirical things (which Aquinas says are the things we actually know; he's surprisingly Continue Reading …
Ep. 378: Aquinas on God and Mind (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. On selections from Thomas Aquinas: Selected Philosophical Writings, mostly taken from the Summa Theologica (1268). Featuring Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan. Given our flawed, finite human nature, how do we fit into the universe? In particular, how can we know and talk about things far beyond Continue Reading …
Ep. 378: Aquinas on God and Mind (Part One for Supporters)
On selections from Thomas Aquinas: Selected Philosophical Writings, mostly taken from the Summa Theologica (1268). Featuring Mark, Wes, Seth, and Dylan. Given our flawed, finite human nature, how do we fit into the universe? In particular, how can we know and talk about things far beyond our experience such as God and eternity? Or maybe we just can't? Aquinas is writing Continue Reading …
Ep. 338: Aristotle on Potential vs. Actual and the Unmoved Mover (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. To conclude our discussion of Aristotle's Metaphysics, we finish discussing potency by talking about our potential to learn, i.e. the Meno problem: How can we learn something (have the potential to know it) unless we already in some sense know it? Aristotle dismisses this as "sophistical": we have Continue Reading …
Ep. 338: Aristotle on Potential vs. Actual and the Unmoved Mover (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. For our fourth and final discussion of Aristotle's Metaphysics, Mark, Wes, and Dylan read portions of books 9 (Theta) and 12 (Lambda). The first of these covered Aristotle's notion of energeia, sometimes translated as actuality, but by our translator Joe Sachs as "being-at-work." An Continue Reading …
Ep. 338: Aristotle on Potential vs. Actual and the Unmoved Mover (Part Two for Supporters)
To conclude our discussion of Aristotle's Metaphysics, we finish discussing potency by talking about our potential to learn, i.e. the Meno problem: How can we learn something (have the potential to know it) unless we already in some sense know it? Aristotle dismisses this as "sophistical": we have the potential to kick off the learning process and then actually learn through Continue Reading …
Ep. 338: Aristotle on Potential vs. Actual and the Unmoved Mover (Part One for Supporters)
For our fourth and final discussion of Aristotle's Metaphysics, Mark, Wes, and Dylan read portions of books 9 (Theta) and 12 (Lambda). The first of these covered Aristotle's notion of energeia, sometimes translated as actuality, but by our translator Joe Sachs as "being-at-work." An example of this is eudaimonia, the word we've discussed as the goal of ancient Greek ethics: Continue Reading …
Ep. 270: Classical Indian (Vedanta and Nyaya) Design Arguments for God (Part One)
Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview. Hear this part ad-free. On the new book God and the World’s Arrangement: Readings from Vedanta and Nyaya Philosophy of Religion, which presents two takes on the argument that God must exist because the world is a "product." The first is excerpted from the Brahma-sūtra (a.k.a. the Vedānta-sutra, compiled ca. the 2nd Continue Reading …
Ep. 270: Classical Indian (Vedanta and Nyaya) Design Arguments for God (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on God and the World’s Arrangement: Readings from Vedanta and Nyaya Philosophy of Religion after the departure of our guest, Stephen Phillips. Wes grills Seth and Mark on what's really new here philosophically: We're all familiar with the design argument, so why wade through all these unfamiliar schools and archaic formulations? So we talk more about Continue Reading …
Ep. 270: Classical Indian (Vedanta and Nyaya) Design Arguments for God (Part One for Supporters)
On the new book God and the World’s Arrangement: Readings from Vedanta and Nyaya Philosophy of Religion, which presents two takes on the argument that God must exist because the world is a "product." The first is excerpted from the Brahma-sūtra (a.k.a. the Vedānta-sutra, compiled ca. the 2nd century C.E.) verses 2.2.1-2.2.10 with commentary from Śaṅkara (710 C.E.) and Vācaspati Continue Reading …
Ep. 267: Avicenna on God and Soul w/ Peter Adamson (Part One)
Subscribe to get Part 2 of this episode. Listen to a preview. On selections and commentary about Avicenna's argument from around 1020 C.E. for the existence of God (including arguments to prove that God has the person-like properties that Islam imputes to him) and his "flying man" argument for the soul's essential independence from matter. Featuring Mark, Dylan, and our guest Continue Reading …
Ep. 267: Avicenna on God and Soul w/ Peter Adamson (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on Avicenna's argument for the existence of God and on the "flying man" argument for the soul's immateriality. We start by drilling more into Avicenna's metaphysical picture via his concept of necessity, and how we know that the mind is necessarily (essentially, according to its nature a.k.a. quiddity) different than the body. When you know Continue Reading …
Ep. 267: Avicenna on God and Soul w/ Peter Adamson (Part One for Supporters)
On selections and commentary about Avicenna's argument from around 1020 C.E. for the existence of God (including arguments to prove that God has the person-like properties that Islam imputes to him) and his "flying man" argument for the soul's essential independence from matter. Featuring Mark, Dylan, and our guest Peter Adamson from the History of Philosophy Continue Reading …
The Tree of Life’s Contingent Universe
http://youtu.be/1WvuJwMFPz4 Watch on YouTube I can write nothing on Heideggerian scholar*/(anti)Hollywood director Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life that hasn't been better written elsewhere. Even so, the film has just come available on DVD and digital download, so I thought I'd recommend it to anyone who has been interested in PEL's recent religion episodes. Continue Reading …
L’Shanah Tovah – Jewish Proofs for the Existence of God (or Lack Thereof)
I think during the Mackie episode I mentioned that proving the existence of God through Reason seemed to me to be a decidely Western and Christian undertaking. I speculated that it wasn't an issue for Eastern religions (those that have a concept of God or gods) and declared that it wasn't one for Judaism. It occurs to me that I should stop speaking on behalf of the Continue Reading …
Episode 43: Arguments for the Existence of God (Citizens Only)
Discussing the arguments by Descartes, St. Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, William Paley, Kant, and others, as analyzed in J.L. Mackie's The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God (1983), chapters 1-3, 5-6, 8, and 11. Are the ontological, cosmological, and teleological (argument from design) arguments for God's existence any good? Mackie, a very sharp Continue Reading …
PREVIEW-Episode 43: Arguments for the Existence of God
This is a 33-minute preview of a 1 hr, 43-minute episode. Buy Now Purchase this episode for $2.99. Or become a PEL Citizen for $5 a month, and get access to this and all other paywalled episodes, including 68 back catalogue episodes; exclusive Part 2's for episodes published after September, 2020; and our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat Continue Reading …