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Perhaps then, as with freedom of action which includes freedom to commit murder, freedom of speech is not the absolute good it is often held to be in rhetorical settings?

True, but in many respects belief in god does present as an appealing option. It gets rid of the apparent meaninglessness and existential angst that an atheist is likely to be left with. It gives purpose (apparently), moral guidance and the potential for everlasting happiness. Nonetheless, I...

As Gh3y pointed out, it's not that simple. If a candidate truth is taught as unquestionable thoughout childhood then it might not be possible for people to reject belief in that 'truth' later in life. This process is made even more difficult if people aren't taught critical reflection skills...

Sadly, the fact that a proposition such as 'god exists' is appealing doesn't amount to its being true, even on many pragmatist accounts. I have come to reject many (seemingly) comforting theories, such as those which endorse god, free will, and objective morality. Many people dislike having such...

Ravi Zacharias is a brilliant speaker but I don't think you should elevate his oratory to the status of proof. Here are some problems with what he is saying: (1) On the argument from evil: His rebuttal is terrible. Given his graduate training Zacharias should show more awareness of the...

No, not really. I don't think that "god exists" is a good candidate for a properly basic belief either. It strikes me as too complex and not nearly apparent enough. The fact that belief in god is largely dictated by local context is enough to suggest that, unlike basic logical laws, it is not...

I'm not sure that this is quite right. Most reasonable theologians accept the scientific method to some degree. If they don't accept that much of science accurately describes reality then they have to do a lot of ad hoc backtracking in order to explain how we manage to launch satellites and...

I would suggest that this is true only to some extent. The concept of 'child' is a vague one and there are always going to be fuzzy borderline cases which offend the moral sensibilities of one culture but not another. Take a case I heard from a friend about her Grandma in India who was married...

Personalised Adidas jacket.

I assume you mean the following passage (or similar): "In the simplest model [of direct reciprocity], the altruistic act consists in conferring a benefit b on the recipient at a cost c to the donor. We shall always assume that the cost is smaller than the benefit, so that if the act is returned...

Yeah, can do. E.g. Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (in particular, note the section on complications including disposition to acquire respiratory infections).

I'm not sure that 'functioning' is quite the right way to put it. What are the chances of an 11 wk fetus surviving outside the womb? Nil. The 'lungs' aren't at all adequate for gas exchange at this point. And, as Kwayera pointed out, the nervous system and GIT are significantly underdeveloped...

Top notch affirmation - but do you have any current arguments you'd care to share? (given that you have done as much in the past)

Maybe, maybe not. If the will is the end product of reasoning then you could feasibly include it in the 'reasoning process'. Really this seems like an arbitrary case of labelling to me and so I'm not sure whether it matters. Replies to these points on dualism/consciousness: (1) I'll...

Meme theory has certainly received some criticism but I think that at least some of this criticism is unwarranted. When looked at in a certain way evolution is simply a process which occurs within a system which can be mapped onto a certain mathematical structure. What is this structure? What we...

A couple things word keeping in mind when consider Ockham's Razor (much the same goes for the principle of parsimony): Its aim is not to prevent inquiry into a certain hypothesis. All it does is arbitrate on the facts as they stand. In other words, if we take a given state of human...

I'll try to find time (either tonight or in the next few days) to remake my case against free will. Are there any particular points of yours that you would like addressed (for the sake of economy)? Also, some responses to your other questions: On the question: could the will be free on...

It's funny you use the roller coaster analogy. I often liken my engagement with philosophy to a roller coaster ride and my favourite moments are actually those where my belief system drops out from beneath me and I am forced to reassess my views on things. I realise, however, that this kick I...

Today I found a couple second hand bookstore gems. Both have genuine leather hard covers, gold inlay with pretty designs, 22k gold trim on the pages, page marking ribbons attached to the spine and are in good-as-new condition. At $33 each I was quite pleased with myself. Politics - Aristotle...

Again to 3unitz: Even better, you can download the introduction and first chapter of The Evolution of Morality in pdf form from MIT press. Access them here.