In class today I described the cosmic fine-tuning version of the design argument and the standard “many universes” counter-hypothesis. I also described how each side can appeal to Ockham’s Razor (don’t complicate explanatory hypotheses more than necessary) as a tie-breaker. The problem with such appeals, I said, is that Ockham’s Razor can be wielded in… Read More »
In the previous post I presented a pair of conflicting arguments by philosopher Immanuel Kant, who presents them to show, among other things, that limit questions like the beginning of time are cannot be theoretically resolved by beings like ourselves. Here’s my take on those two arguments. The first argument, recall, was this: Part I:… Read More »
William Lane Craig argues that the universe (and time with it) began to exist, and he marshals several arguments to that end. Immanuel Kant, however, contends that the question of whether time began or not cannot be answered. He tries to show this by arguing both sides of the question: Part I: Time Has a… Read More »
OK, here’s a version of the cosmological argument to think about: The universe is a contingent thing (i.e., it cannot account for its own existence). Contingent things need an ultimate explanation for their existence. Whatever stands in need of a certain type of explanation cannot be ultimately explained by something that itself stands in need… Read More »
We speak of time and of temporally related things like events, moments, and instants in a ways that reflect different conceptualizations of time. 1. Time as a LineFirst, there is the idea of the “timeline” that we encounter especially in history books. According to this model, all events are equally real and are differentiated by… Read More »
In my last post I made a reference to “Zod” as a possible name for a worst conceivable being based on a DC Comics super-villain. Well, it turns out that General Zod is running for president.
In class today we looked at Anselm’s first version of the ontological argument (from Proslogion 2). We then looked at Gaunilo’s attempt at a “refutation by parody” and showed how Anselm could respond by saying that there can be no “greatest conceivable island” because the qualities that go into that do not have intrinsic maxima… Read More »
In my spare time I like to read, and not just philosophy either, but literature, especially the so-called ‘great works’ and works in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. I recently completed Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth-century classic, Le Morte d’Arthur. It’s the primary source for the collection of tales that makes up the Arthurian legend – King Arthur… Read More »
Just a brief post to see if anyone had any questions about any of the non-monotheistic models of God that I touched on in the first class. Those alternative models were these: Polytheism: There are many finite gods who exist wholly within the Cosmos. Pantheism: Everything either is God, a part of God, or a… Read More »
In a recent book entitled Can God Be Free?, William Rowe argues that the answer to the titular question is no, and he develops this into an argument for atheism. Here’s a simplified version of his basic argument: [T]here is a serious argument to the effect that no such being as God could exist if… Read More »