thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
Science and history are both complex disciplines that require significant knowledge and skills to do well. A research scientist has to have a good theoretical background in their branch of science, keep up with others working in his or her field, probably have a good working understanding of mathematics and statistics and be able to […]
Are we alone in the cosmos? Or are there other, perhaps many other, intelligent life forms out there? An associated question is whether earth is unique, or whether there are many other planets that could support life. This is a scientific question, but also has importance (for some people) for the question of the existence […]
Victor Reppert is a philosopher. His book, CS Lewis’s Dangerous Idea discusses the theistic argument from reason. His blog, Dangerous Idea has long been a source of information and ideas for me, and many others. Recently he responded to the argument that there is no evidence for God, and summarised his reasons for believing in […]
In a recent internet discussion of fine tuning, I was referred to a 2014 debate between Sean Carroll and William Lane Craig, where Carroll made a number of criticisms of the fine-tuning argument used by Craig. He also included some other statements he regarded as showing that the universe looks like one NOT created by […]
Last post I presented evidence that indicates that the scientific evidence shows that the universe is indeed “fine-tuned” – i.e. of all the possible universes allowed by theoretical physics, very, very few would have allowed life to evolve. This post I consider objections to using this scientific evidence to argue that God exists.
The science of fine-tuning is summed up in this statement: of all the possible universes allowed by theoretical physics, an extremely small number would allow the evolution of intelligent life. Very few cosmologists seem to contest this statement, and Luke Barnes names more than 20 of the best who support it. Yet it is common […]
Guest post by Noel Reeson I’ve been hanging around the internet for about a decade now, often getting into discussion about religion. Some can get a little tiresome, and you can make it hard on yourself if you try to check out every reference and reply to every so-called fact. So I’ve worked out a few […]
The good and harm done by christianity is a topic of much discussion and argument, and I have written on it many times (e.g. Does religion poison everything? and Do religious believers have better health and wellbeing, like, really?). Keith Parsons is a US philosopher and atheist who writes about the philosophy of religion, and […]
Can we choose our beliefs? Can we choose anything, or are we prisoners of the electro-chemistry in our brains? How do we choose? Pondering these questions can change the way we think, and how we understand ourselves and others. I am beginning a series of posts on these questions. This post looks at free will […]
I had never heard of this book or its author until a friend bought it for me as a present. But it proved to be a really worthwhile read.