Intelligent design, creationism, and fundamentalism: a reply to Randal Rauser

Randal Rauser has posted my contribution to his “Why they don’t believe” series, along with his response. Here’s my response to his response:

handcuffed woman

Let’s talk about violent pornography

This is a post that came out of not knowing quite what to say when a certain topic comes up on the internet. I’ve been meaning to write it for months… and perhaps not surprisingly, I’ve been struggling to figure out what to say. But here it goes.

god or god less

God or Godless: a review

When I asked Randal for a review copy God or Godless, I expected to be frustrated by his arguments. I didn’t expect to be frustrated by the format of the book–but that’s what happened.

fat man

Why I’m not quite a consequentialist (a reply to Scott)

Via this post, Scott Alexander has alerted me to the fact that he’s not only the author of a non-libertarian FAQ, but also the author of a consequentialist FAQ. I can’t believe I wasn’t aware of it before, but now I’m going to write a response. Let me start by saying that I agree with [...]

I need a good editor

After considering publishing under Patheos’ imprint, I have decided to go the self-publishing/indie publishing route for my current book project. This means hiring freelancers, among other things finding a good editor.

shut up

In support of Ron Lindsay, and against Richard Carrier’s disingenuous attack

So apparently there’s a huge kerfluffle over Ron Lindsay’s opening remarks at CFI’s Women in Secularism 2 conference. At first I avoided reading anything about it out of a desire to not waste time on drama; then I decided read the text of Lindsay’s speech.

genius

I am very smart and it isn’t fair (to other people)

Ben Bernanke just gave a speech denouncing meritocracy. This is a good opportunity for me to make a point I’ve been meaning to make about the genetics of intelligence ever since the thread on Star Trek and human enhancement.

Peter Singer

Ethicists who matter

If I ever become a philosophy professor, there’s a good chance that at some point I will have to teach a class on ethics, because classes on ethics are in much higher demand than classes on most other areas of philosophy. And if I do that, I think I might seriously consider seeing if I [...]

bermudez

Bermúdez’ Cognitive Science (a review)

I’ve long had people tell me I should take a class on cognitive science, from my undergrad philosophy of mind prof to, more recently, various MIRI/LessWrong folks. But I’m out of school and very likely will never take a cognitive science class, so I decided to do the next best thing and pickup a textbook [...]

June open thread: deconversion tactics and a blog intro page

Sorry I haven’t been blogging much lately. I’ve gotten quite busy with other things, but I plan on forcing myself to blog more next week. Until then, here’s your June open thread.

contact

Why no alien radio signals?

On plausible assumptions, the universe should be teeming with intelligent life, so where are they all? The folks behind SETI have responded by going out and looking for it by scanning radio signals, but so far the search has turned up nothing. Could there be a Great Filter at work? Or do the aliens just have better technology?

life of brian

Fisking the Sermon on the Mount

“Fisking” is a term I used to see a lot on the internet, which sadly seems to have fallen out of use. It means a point-by-point critique, and they can be a real joy to read. Today, I give you a fisking of the Sermon on the Mount.