Philosophy of Religion - A Tippling Philosopher (Page 3)

Act & Potency: Responding to a Critic

Some weeks back, I posted a short piece on act and potency, "Criticising the Idea of Potential and Actuality in Natural Law Philosophy" in which I quoted extensively from a book I am presently editing by Gunther Laird. Recently, I have received a response on this ("Response

consequentialism

The Problem of Evil, Skeptical Theism and "Good Reasons"

I have been discussing the Problem of Evil (POE) a bit recently, particularly the Logical Problem of Evil (LPOE), and without wanting to defend theism and belief in God, I have been defending the logical possibility of OmniGod in light of the existence of suffering. The basis of the POE,

By Joreth (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Epistemology

Discussing the Logical Problem of Evil & Skeptical Theism

An interesting thread has developed on the thread to the post concerning the Logical Problem of Evil (LPOE) - thanks to those involved. I thought I would post some specific ones here for further discussion: [Slograman] @Jonathan Improbable as it may be, does LPOE also cover the morality of creating

Evidential Problem of evil

The Logical Problem of Evil

I have recently brought up the good ole problem of evil in a post concerning both religion and politics. Skl, a regular theistic commenter, was surprised by my remarks: [JP - There is no logical inconsistency with OmniGod and the existence of suffering, given his properties. … I don’t deny

Aquinas

Criticising the Idea of Potential and Actuality in Natural Law Philosophy

As some of you may know, I am presently editing a book by Gunther Laird calls The Unnecessary Science. Natural Law philosophy, about which I have talked a great deal recently, owes an awful lot to Aristotle, Aquinas and other thinkers from a bygone era. One of the cornerstones of

divine foreknowledge

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: Satan, Heaven & Hell

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

Not Seeing God

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: Photosynthesis and Suffering

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

Aquinas

Hsiao’s Perverted Faculty Argument and Moral Oughts

The Perverted Faculty Argument (PFA) is a strand of Thomistic (Thomas Aquinas) thinking that is intertwined with Natural Law Theory (NLT) of which I have been blogging lately. I was challenged by Vincent Torley recently to, if I was going to attack the PFA (as I have done here and

conceptualism

Hsiao’s Perverted Faculty Argument: Doesn’t Even Get off the Ground

The Perverted Faculty Argument (PFA) is a strand of Thomistic (Thomas Aquinas) thinking that is intertwined with Natural Law Theory (NLT) of which I have been blogging lately. I was challenged by Vincent Torley recently to, if I was going to attack the PFA (as I have done here and

Ficino

Some Thoughts on Hsiao's Perverted Faculty Argument

The Perverted Faculty Argument (PFA) is a strand of Thomistic (Thomas Aquinas) thinking that is intertwined with Natural Law Theory (NLT) of which I have been blogging lately. I was challenged by Vincent Torley recently to, if I was going to attack the PFA (as I have done here and

Aquinas

Quote of the Day: Sheila C. on Gastric Bypasses and Lesbianism

I have recently been posting quite a bit on Natural Law Theory due to the fact I am presently editing a book on the subject by another author. Natural Law Theory, in a nutshell: NLT states that behaviours that are rationally chosen by an agent that do not fit the

consequentialism

Natural Law Theory and Frustrating Sexual Ends

Natural Law Theory, in a nutshell: NLT states that behaviours that are rationally chosen by an agent that do not fit the remit of the final cause of the agent or part of the agent (i.e., a body part) are morally bad. In the same way a kettle that

consequentialism

More on Natural Law Theory and the Enjoyment of Sex

Yesterday, I posted on the subject of Natural Law Theory (NLT) in the context of the enjoyment of sex. NLT states that behaviours that are rationally chosen by an agent that do not fit the remit of the final cause of the agent or part of the agent (i.e.

Philosophy of Religion

Natural Law Theory and the Enjoyment of Sex

I am presently editing a book with the working title “The Unnecessary Science” that is a robust critique of Thomism, Natural Law and Christian thinkers such as Edward Feser. I (and fellow contributor Ficino) have written a number of times about Natural Law Theory (NLT) - see "Related Posts&

consequentialism

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: Heaven & Consequentialism

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?

Two Sides of the Review Coin

I have just received two Amazon reviews for my book on the Kalam Cosmological Argument (Did God Create the Universe from Nothing?: Countering William Lane Craig’s Kalam Cosmological Argument). One a 5-star review from a skeptical someone who contacted me by email to show his appreciation - I am

belief

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: God's Not Fair

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

By University of Toronto Students for Life [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

COVID crisis

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: God Loves Abortion

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

Adam and Eve

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: Adam & Eve

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

creation

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: Creating Imperfectly

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

atheism

Not Seeing OmniGod through Philosophy and Logic: Why Create?

Introductory spiel: One of my more recent books, Not Seeing God: Atheism in the 21st Century (UK), has a plethora of gems in it for the reader and a smorgasbord of variety. It was a labour of love and was particularly rewarding due to the fact that so many great

conceptual nominalism

Natural Law, Essentialism and Nominalism

I have said this many times before in different ways and as part of different posts, but I thought I would explicitly make this point on its own. Natural Law Theory and the essentialism upon which it depends, as part of a Thomistic/Catholic philosophy, depends on the negation of

evolution

Natural Law Theory, Morality and Rational Beings

Natural Law Theory (NLT) is an ethical theory derived from the thinking of people such as Thomas Aquinas that attempts to establish that humans, for example, have an ideal form or essence that dictates how they should act. The form of a particular species of bird is that it has

Cosmology

Fine-Tuning and Evolution: Evaluating Complexity

We so often, as free-thinkers, get embroiled in arguments concerning fine-tuning or evolution. Proponents of such arguments invariably claim that something or other is too complex to be explained by natural means. Therefore God. We often pick holes in such claims to the probability of these things, and frequency of

abstracts

Aquinas' Essence and Existence Argument: A Critique

Aquinas is famous for a number of arguments for God's existence, one such one being the argument from essence and existence from De Ente et Essentia [On Being and Essence]. I will briefly summarise it here. Everything supposedly has both essence and existence and they are two separate