abortion Defending against Natural Law arguments concerning abortion This is the final installment in a series of pieces looking at arguments from a religious apologist, a Molinist, in answer to my first book, The Unnecessary Science. Previously reviewed and discussed here at OnlySky, the book gives a philosophical and critical look at the thinking of Aristotle and Thomas
classical theism The Problem of Divine Hiddenness Divine hiddenness is a problem that has for some years in modern theology interested those of a skeptical preference. As ever, definitions are required: What is meant by “Divine Hiddenness”? For this, it would first be useful to do a brief dive into Christian theology. Within the typical Christian worldview,
forgiveness Asking forgiveness from...God? Crimes or harm to others can take on many different forms, but some can be particularly heinous. Far be it for me to constrain your imagination in detailing any such horrible harms. Instead, let us more closely consider the ramifications of causing harm to others. Forgiveness is often defined as
atheism A philosopher's bigoted views on atheists Sometimes I think we have come a long way, that atheism is firmly ensconced in modern Western societies as an accepted belief. At other times, I am rudely awakened from my pipedream. I could bring to bear any number of opinions from politicians to celebrities. But, being a philosopher myself,
health Explaining a fractured elbow I have primary progressive multiple sclerosis. One of the main symptoms is a lack of balance. As the body attacks the central nervous system—the informational messaging highway connecting the brain and body—the messages fail to reach their destinations. One destination is "the feet." When the feet
belief 'I want to believe what you believe, Daddy' Being a secular, atheist parent, and also a philosopher, I take my parenting seriously in how my children's beliefs develop. The idea for me is that it is important to teach my children the methods and not the conclusion. I don't want to teach my children
church attendance The illusion of choice in what we believe There is a phenomenon that has been taking place, particularly in the US, with greater regularity over the last few decades—the behavior of "church shopping." The congregant attends a church and listens to the pastor making moral-political statements, and they think to themselves, "This pastor is
earthquake of perspective Building our own meaning and purpose The age-old problem of deciphering the meaning of life never gets old as a philosophical project. The word "decipher" here is the wrong word to use from a humanist's point of view, of course. It is not that meaning is hidden in the fabric of the
God's characteristics Can you even calculate a best possible world? One of the arguments in my most recent book 30 Arguments Against the Existence of "God" concerns OmniGod creating this world, and that this world must be the best of all possible worlds. This is because OmniGod is constrained by his characteristic of being all-loving. In being omnibenevolent,
abstracts Platonism is vacuous Abstract ideas are, in my humblest of opinions, the source of the most important arguments in philosophy. The ontology (the nature of the existence) of abstract objects underwrites all other philosophy from morality to mathematics, aesthetics to personhood. You can't make serious claims about these latter ideas without
Problem of Evil God is not great at seeking informed consent No, I will be not talking about the dubious circumstances involving Mary's pregnancy while Joseph was out carpenting, though I could. Instead, let's talk about skeptical theism as a mechanism for excusing all of the suffering in the world. Skeptical theism is the "God moves
deep dive audio What's the point of education? No, really, what is the point? I ask this in light of recent UK government potential demands on universities that they are putting out to consultation. Known as "public comment" in the U.S., this is where the government seeks input from the public and stakeholders concerning a
racism The meager moral fruits argument “If this conversion you speak about is truly supernatural, then why is it not more evident in the lives of so many Christians that I know?”A Hindu acquaintance to the late Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias Philosophical arguments can take on several forms: deductive, inductive, and abductive. I am becoming
atheism Where do we get our morals? If you, like me, are atheist, then you have no doubt had this question leveled at you as well. It's ubiquitous in such circles, but it has no merit, really. Rather similar is the idea that if "God is dead" then we will just go about
Book Reviews Book review: Gunther Laird's Unnecessary Science debunks Natural Law Theory from within Laws like Roe vs. Wade that many secular people hold dear are under threat. Much of how they are threatened is down to the partisan nature of American politics, but it is also underwritten by thinkers who provide an ethical framework from which certain political factions can structure their legal
determinism Libertarian free will doesn't exist, and moral responsibility can't exist The free will argument is what got me into this whole thing years ago—it is the argument that lit the fuse to my love affair with philosophy. And, after all these years, where so many others have, my conclusions about libertarian free will have not changed. Definition o'
Book Reviews Divine command theory defended, and re-attacked Having recently written a piece drawing on fellow OnlySky writing colleague Phil Zuckerman's brilliant book What It Means To Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, it is always nice to receive critiques of my writing. Just to remind you, the piece was
abstracts What does 'exist' even mean? "Exist" can be a tricky word. Unless I define the term upfront, people often think I mean something other than I do. When I am talking about the color red, or, the concept of loyalty or morality, I might say that these things don't exist. What
earthquake of perspective An ethical maze: Designing babies for a greater good? Listen to this article, read by the author “At ten months old, we were told he would need a heart transplant. There was no cure for his condition, so we would have to go to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital at some point. If they had a bed. And
determinism Living without free will: How does it affect my life? It is true that a stopped clock is right twice a day. It is also true to say that some of my more, how do I say, problematic commenters say something worthwhile once...a year? Perhaps that is too generous. In this case, the interesting comment came in the form
divine foreknowledge God Is Love: Having a Loving Relationship with a Divine Automaton I've just done a YouTube video discussing this and it's an interesting one. I will use my claim here that God does not have free will. See my following pieces: God's Own Free Will God's Supposed Free Will: He Cannot Be Contrary
determinism Verbose Stoic on my Free Will Chapter (II) In a previous post, I detailed how theistic commenter here, Verbose Stoic (VS), has critiqued a chapter of mine on free will commissioned by John Loftus for his book Christianity in the Light of Science. In the first piece, we looked at definitional issues and laid the foundations. In my
compatibilism Debating Free Will with Verbose Stoic I sent regular theistic commenter Verbose Stoic (VS) a chapter I was once commissioned to write by John W. Loftus for his anthology Christianity in the Light of Science. VS has written a lengthy critique on his blog here. I have commented a few times there already in answer to
objective morality Morality, the Euthyphro Dilemma & William Lane Craig In the closing stages of writing my latest book, The Resurrection: A Critical Examination of the Easter Story [UK] (please grab yourself a copy!), I had a few test readers. One was David Austin, down in Australia, who has provided a few guest articles for your delectation. Here is another
conceptual nominalism Cargosquid and Rights. Again. Am I Not Making Myself Clear? I know this is quite laborious, but I was wondering, am I not making myself clear? I mean, I've written a whole heap on this and the ideas behind what I say, and the conclusions aren't that complex to understand, no? Of course, we're
