Saturday, November 19, 2011

Does the Scientific Method Employ a Logical Fallacy?

In The Limitation of Bacon's Scientific Method Jacob Schriftman suggests that the scientific method is based on the formal logical fallacy commonly known as "Affirming the Consequent."  If correct, this is an astounding claim.  Could it be that the scientific method is founded on bad reasoning?  In this post I will attempt to explain the suggestion made by Schriftman and then I will share my thoughts on the implications.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Christian Love: Emotion or Act?

I want to show that Christian love is essentially an intended act of the will.  This may not seem obvious at first, because our culture often identifies love with emotion.  In order to clarify, I will begin with an analysis of love in general, and then I will move to a consideration of Christian love in particular.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Troy Davis or Lawrence Russell Brewer: Which One is the Straw Man?

I would like to offer a philosophical suggestion to activists.  In short, if you want to prove your point, then attack your opponent's strongest position.  If you can show this position to be flawed, then any weaker position will be seen as flawed as well.  On the other hand, if you attack a weaker position of your opponent, then a stronger position held by your opponent may escape unscathed (so to speak) and you will still have work to do.
Take as an example the executions of Troy Davis and Lawrence Russell Brewer, both of which occurred on the same day Sept. 21, 2011.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

To the Epistemic Humility Challenged Christian

The last few posts have been focused on atheism and and the naturalistic worldview from which atheism is derived.  In the interest of fairness and epistemic humility I would like to "turn the tables" (so to speak) and focus on the worldview I function within: Christianity.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Atheism: Worldview or Objective Point of View (Revisited)

In this post I would like to explain why I do not believe atheism is the result of an objective point of view.  Also, I would like to explore at least one of the ethical implications that I believe obtain as a result of my understanding of worldviews. Lets begin with a quote from James K.A. Smith.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Worldviews, Primary Assumptions, and Certainty

In the last post ("Atheism: Worldview or Objective Point of View") I promised 1) to show why I believe that all people have a worldview, and 2) to show why I believe that all worldviews are based on primary assumptions that are not ultimately subject to evidence or reason.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Atheism: Worldview or Objective Point of View

Is atheism a worldview or an objective point of view?  I ask this question in response to two blog posts found in The Washington Post section On Faith.  Both posts are written by prominent atheists and both posts are addressing secular studies as found in universities. However, the authors of the posts seem to disagree as to the status of secular approaches to education.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Does Christian Philosophy Matter? Part II

In this post I want to finish what was mentioned at the end of Part I of "Does Christian Philosophy Matter?"  Then I will try to explain why I think Christian philosophy does matter.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Does Christian Philosophy Matter? Part I

In his recent article "Does Philosophy Matter?" found in The New York Times op-ed page, Stanley Fish argues that,
"...the conclusions reached in philosophical disquisitions...do not travel into contexts that are not explicitly philosophical (as seminars, academic journals, and conferences are), and they do not even make their way into the non-philosophical lives of those who hold them."
In Part I of this post I will address what I believe to be Fish's basic position.  Then I will show why I both agree and disagree with that position.  In Part II, I will address the not wholly unrelated question, "Does Christian Philosophy Matter?"

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Reflections on Striving, Sin, and Death

            We want to reflect upon a certain relation between death and sin.   First, it should be obvious to everyone that death is a highly likely, if not necessary, end of life as we experience it everyday. Second, and more important, all we can ever really say is that: everyone we have ever known, or heard about; has died, is dying, or will die.  But what if these two points were not the case?  What if we never died?  How would we think, act, and live?  The particular relation between death and sin that we want to observe is better understood if we assume for a moment how we would function in a world in which no one dies.