Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 8

May 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

I am not impressed by Richard Taylor's appeal to etymology as an argument for the claim that all duties and all obligations are 'owed' to some person or persons (see part 7 for my objections to that line of reasoning). However, to be fair to Craig, Taylor's appeal to etymology is not specifically and explicitly quoted by Craig in his essay 'Why I Believe God Exists' (WIAC, p.62-80). Perhaps Craig is aware of the weakness of Taylor's appeal to etymology, and so he avoids quoting such appeals … [Read more...]

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Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 7

May 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Richard Taylor's book Virtue Ethics: An Introduction (formerly published as Ethics, Faith, and Reason) provides a very readable and interesting defense of the view that the modern conception of morality originates with religion, especially with Christianity. William Craig quotes from Chapter 11 of this book as his primary support for his second objection to AMR. So, in order to evaluate Craig's second objection, we need to evaluate Taylor's argument(s) for the claim that duties are always … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, atheism & naturalism, Christianity, ethics, metaethics, moral argument, nontheistic metaethics, philosophers, philosophy, philosophy of religion, skepticism, theism, theistic metaethics Tagged With: , , , , , , , Leave a Comment

Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 6

May 13, 2013 By 1 Comment

Some internet resources about  William Craig's views on morality and Richard Taylor's views on morality: Is The Basis Of Morality Natural Or Supernatural? A Debate Between Richard Taylor and William Lane Craig Union College, Schenectady, New York October 8, 1993 http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/docs/craig-taylor0.html The Indispensability of Theological Meta-Ethical Foundations for Morality By Dr. William Lane … [Read more...]

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Books I’d Like to Read Someday

May 13, 2013 By 2 Comments

The Mystery of Existence: Why Is There Anything At All? – John Leslie & Robert Lawrence Kuhn, eds. (Wiley-Blackwell, April 2013) This compelling study of the origins of all that exists, including explanations of the entire material world, traces the responses of philosophers and scientists to the most elemental and haunting question of all: why is anything here—or anything anywhere? Why is there something rather than nothing? Why not nothing? It includes the thoughts of dozens of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, apologist watch, books of interest, philosophy, philosophy of religion 2 Comments

Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 5

May 11, 2013 By 3 Comments

I am currently considering William Craig's second objection to Atheistic Moral Realism (AMR): Second, the nature of moral duty or obligation seems incompatible with atheistic moral realism. (WIAC, p.76) The following is a third piece of the paragraph where Craig presents this objection: Who or what lays such an obligation on me?  As the ethicist Richard Taylor points out, "A duty is something that is owed. ... But something can be owed only to some person or persons.  There can be no … [Read more...]

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Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 4

May 8, 2013 By 12 Comments

Here, once again, is William Craig's MOVE (Moral Objective Values Exist) Argument: 1. If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist. 2. Objective moral values do exist. Therefore: 3. God exists. I am considering one possible objection, namely rejection of, or doubt about, premise (1). Atheists who are inclined towards moral realism or belief in objective moral values will be inclined to challenge premise (1) rather than premise (2). Craig raises three objections to what … [Read more...]

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Speaking in Seattle on Saturday

May 8, 2013 By 7 Comments
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I will be reprising my recent talk to the Central London Humanists, “Evidence About God: What Apologists Don’t Want You to Know,” but this time my audience will be the Creation Association of Puget Sound (CAPS). When: Saturday, May 11, 2013, 7:00PM Where: Avondale Bible Church, 17010 Avondale Road Northeast, Woodinville, WA Here is information from the organizer: Refreshments and meetup discussions at 7:00, talk at 7:30, hosted by Avondale Bible Church. This meeting is organized for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, argument from beauty, argument from consciousness, argument from moral agency, arguments for theism, design argument, fine-tuning argument, kalam cosmological argument, moral argument, news, philosophy, philosophy of religion 7 Comments

Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 2

April 19, 2013 By 21 Comments

I am going to engage in a bit of logic chopping now.  But for those who do not have an appreciation for logic chopping, do not despair;  my close examination of the bark on one tree will lead me to make some broader points that have significance for philosophy of religion, ethics, and serious thinking about God.  The broader points might even have some relevance to evaluation of William Craig's argument from the Existence of Objective Moral Values (Let's rearrange those words a bit: "Moral … [Read more...]

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Atheistic Moral Realism – Part 1

April 18, 2013 By 14 Comments

In his essay "Why I Believe God Exists", William Craig gives three main reasons for believing in God (Why I am a Christian - hereafter: WIAC - edited by Norman Geisler and Paul Hoffman, Baker Books, 2001, p.62-80): God makes sense of the origin of the universe (the Kalam Cosmological argument, p.62-68) God makes sense of the complex order in the universe (the Fine Tuning argument, p.68-74). God makes sense of objective moral values in the world (his argument from the Existence of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, arguments for theism, atheism & naturalism, Christianity, ethics, metaethics, moral argument, philosophy, philosophy of religion, theism, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , 14 Comments

Why God did not raise Jesus from the Dead

March 29, 2013 By 142 Comments

The evidence for the claim that Jesus was alive and walking around on the first Easter Sunday is weak. Overall, the evidence indicates that the first post-crucifixion appearances of Jesus probably occurred in Galilee several days after, perhaps several weeks after, the crucifixion of Jesus. Although there probably were  some sort of 'resurrection' experiences or visions or dreams by some of Jesus' followers, it is difficult to determine what those experiences consisted in based on the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, Christianity, ethics, miracles, philosophy, philosophy of religion, resurrection, skepticism, theism Tagged With: , , , , 142 Comments