The idea of designing a religion is a fascinating one, due partly to the selection of motivations for doing so. One could hope to design a religion that would become widely popular and financially benefit its inventor. One could design a religion for the purposes of making a point: to tear apart the fabrication once [...]
This title is somewhat biased. It can often be heard that because some person widely considered to be very intelligent is theist or atheist, that this counts in favour of a that particular opinion. It is lines such as “there are many religious scientists” coated with the tone that because religious scientists exist then religion must [...]
In the debate over the veracity or rationality of religious doctrines, the greatest thorn in the theists’ side is our asking what evidence supports their claims. As they can’t answer that challenge, they do all they can to excuse taking umbrage an evidential criteria. It has been said theology is not an effort to justify [...]
Clearly in order to answer this question we’re going to need to define extremism. Extremism is a relative description. One thing is extremist with respect to another. To label something extremist is to state that it is very different compared to the average. One could suggest that it is as different as something could possibly [...]
Even the religious are starting to notice that one of the natural philosophical partners to science, is atheism. Bizarrely, this seems to confuse some religious people, as though they weren’t expecting it. Any atheist will tell you, that atheism is the only logically valid philosophy with regards to the existence of gods. It is the [...]
Generalisation is a method used a lot in logic. The easiest to understand definition is when a concept is applied to a broader range of situations. We hear the principle of generalisation in debates most often with regards to extremism. One person might suggest that the views of the extremist reveal a flaw present in [...]
There is a small number of theist promoters, who can be found lurking in the low-viewer-count videos on the internet, who seem to be suggesting philosophy requires years of professional training before competency can be achieved. The most blatant statement of this kind can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAS0Gcq8Mvo William Lane Craig is attempting to discredit Professor [...]
This line of arguing is rarely explicitly stated, but seems to be the undertone used by some people. Generally we tend to hear only the first clause in arguments “I used to be an atheist” and the rest is merely implied. There are three major problems with introducing this to a discussion. Firstly, it could [...]
This is a misleading question because it suggests that a person’s philosophical standpoint is always an accurate and reliable indicator of someone’s intelligence. Through consideration of the arguments and evidence for and against the existence of most definitions of gods, there is only one reasonable conclusion that a person can come to: we simply cannot [...]
I have this instant just returned from my first visit to a Christian church in several years. I have only been into churches about eight or nine times in my life, normally for the purposes of listening to or playing in concerts. My reason for going on this occasion was to have a go at playing the [...]
So frequently in our analysis of the arguments for and against the existence of a god do we rely on our ability to use logic, that we might forget the requirement of logic that we question even logic itself. Logic is used to propagate beneath assumptions so as to find out whether they are reliable. [...]