Philosophy, et cetera

More specifically: should atheists  consider religious belief to be reasonable (for well-informed agents)?  My colleague Kevin Vallier think...

Stephen Clark, at NDPR, writes : It takes considerable faith, for example, to believe that the very same laws of nature apply throughout re...

The ontological argument: 1. We can think of a greatest conceivable being – call it 'God'. 2. It is greater (qua being) to exist th...

Here 's another discussion I've long been meaning to return to. I point out a simple objection to the Free Will Defense against the ...

There's been some recent blog chatter (Brandon offers links ) on the question whether to "respect" religious beliefs (in a sen...

Many theists seem to treat the 'logical' problem of evil as refutable simply by establishing that God's existence is compatible ...

A puzzling thing about America is that some people seem to think that Christmas is an exclusively Christian holiday, such that anyone who ce...

Oh noes ! ( HT ) The archbishop said "atheistic fundamentalism" was a new phenomenon. He said it advocated that religion in genera...

As a society we tend to be much more accommodating of some commitments (e.g. religious or familial) than others (hobbies, etc.). Is this fa...

The stupidest thing I've read today (ta Luke): I have been chided in the past for referring to the "militant" atheism of Dawk...

Some interesting remarks from Jason Kuznicki : Fundamentalism is an interpretive strategy . Fundamentalism is not a divine command; it is a ...

Ophelia Benson rebuts some silly complaints from Michael Shermer, including the bizarre suggestion that New Atheism is a mere "anti-mo...

[ Quote ] If you believe that such authority-based religious education is acceptable, then let me leave you with a question. Suppose authori...

Some people seem to believe in a very strange kind of authority: one that can pull normativity out of a hat (or decide which of two incommen...

Dialogue snippet from many films/TV shows: Skeptic: "Doesn't it bother you that there's no real evidence that God even exists?...

Sometimes people argue about whether, say, Christians and Muslims worship the same God. (Islamophobes employ genetic arguments to suggest th...

Clayton makes a nice point: According to Anselm, I'm a fool. I believe God exists only in the imagination. But even Anselm grants that ...

Surely this post's title is a false dilemma. Nevertheless, it seems to be a popular defense of religious belief, to say that "athei...

Another problem with the "free will" theodicy is that it rests on a double standard. No-one thinks it impedes free will problemat...

I've never understood how anyone could be at all convinced by the "free will" defence against the problem of evil . It seems...