Richard Swinburne presents his inductive cosmological argument in Chapter 7 of his book The Existence of God (second edition, hereafter: EOG). I plan to start at the beginning of the chapter and go paragraph by paragraph, stopping to comment on each paragraph that includes either support for, or defense of, some part of the cosmological argument (hereafter: TCA). Paragraph 1 (EOG, p.133) This paragraph neither supports nor defends a part of TCA. Paragraph 2 (EOG, p.133-134) This … [Read more...]
Swinburne’s Cosmological and Teleological Arguments – Part 3
March 8, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I am exploring a concern about, or potential objection to, Swinburne's inductive cosmological and teleological arguments for the existence of God. The objection I have in mind is something like this, for the cosmological argument: Although the one factual premise of Swinburne's cosmological argument is supposed to be the ONLY contingent factual claim or assumption upon which the conclusion of the argument rests, the argument actually rests on a considerable number and variety of contingent … [Read more...]
Swinburne’s Cosmological and Teleological Arguments – Part 2
March 3, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Like many other liberals, I'm delighted and mesmerized by Bridgegate and various other Chris Christie scandals from the fine state of New Jersey. I cannot wait for my daily dose of Rachel Maddow dishing the latest dirt on Christie and his idiotic crowd of corrupt New Jersey hooligans. What does this have to do with Swinburne's arguments for God? Well, one neat trick that a couple of Christie's friends have pulled is to plead the 5th amendment as a legal justification for refusing to turn … [Read more...]
Worst Atheist Debate Performances (revised 4-Mar-14)
March 2, 2014 By Leave a Comment
In the past, I posted a list of the "Worst Atheist Debaters." I now think that title was a mistake, since it's possible that a single debate performance may not be representative of a person's overall skill in debate. So I am republishing that list now as a list of the "Worst Atheist Debate Performances." Like my list of "Best Atheist Debaters," I don't know of any way to be fully objective about this sort of thing. Also, like the other list, I fully recognize that others may disagree. … [Read more...]
Craig-Carroll Debate Video Now Online
February 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment
HT: Mikkel Rumraket Rasmussen … [Read more...]
Let’s Attack a Straw Man, C.S. Lewis Style!
February 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I was re-reading C.S. Lewis' book, Mere Christianity, and was struck by his completely biased way of defining the theory he wants to discredit. Here's a quick refresher: Lewis wants to defend a moral argument for what he calls the "Religious view" (read: theism) and against what he calls the "Materialist view." If you were expecting Lewis to offer a "neutral" definition of materialism, such as "the belief that matter and energy are all that exist," you'd be massively mistaken. Instead, here's … [Read more...]
Swinburne’s Cosmological & Teleological Arguments
February 25, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I'm not going to try to fully explain and evaluate Swinburne's Cosmological and Teleological arguments for God here. That would be way too much to tackle in one or two blog posts. There are just a couple of doubts or concerns about these arguments that I would like to express and explore. Swinburne's inductive cosmological argument for God has just one premise: e. A complex physical universe exists (over a period of time). Therefore: g. God exists. Swinburne argues that e is more … [Read more...]
Plantinga on the Alleged “Irrationality” of Atheism
February 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment
I want to comment on Gary Gutting's recent interview of Alvin Plantinga in the New York Times. Unless otherwise indicated, the quotations are quotations of Plantinga. Still, that’s not nearly sufficient for atheism. In the British newspaper The Independent, the scientist Richard Dawkins was recently asked the following question: “If you died and arrived at the gates of heaven, what would you say to God to justify your lifelong atheism?” His response: “I’d quote Bertrand … [Read more...]
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