I recently came across somebody who argued that the foundation of reality could not be a mind, because if it were, then this mind would have...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
[If] nothing exists, then by definition no rules exist limiting what will happen to it; if no rules exist limiting what it will happen to it, it is equally likely it will become one of infinitely many arrays of things (including remaining nothing, which is just one of infinitely many other things no rule exists to prevent happening); if we select at random from the infinitely many arrays of things it can become (including the array that is an empty set, i.e. continuing to be nothing), the pro...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
I recently came across an old paper by Clement Dore, entitled "Rowe on the Cosmological Argument" (1983). In it, Dore objects attempts to uphold Hume's objection to the PSR, by critiquing Rowe's defense of the principle. He writes:| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
There is something about the logic of procrastination which puts me in mind of the sorites paradox. Just as it seems absurd to suppose that one dollar could make the difference between rich and not-rich, so too does it seem absurd to think that "five more minutes" could make-or-break one's ability to complete a given task. And yet, just as certainly in the one case as in the other, it seems intuitively obvious that there must be some dividing line between rich and not-rich, plenty of time an...| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
Richard Carrier (an atheist blogger suffering from the world's most ironic god complex) thinks he has an argument to the effect that "[if] ...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
A few years back, renowned chemist Peter Atkins wrote a couple of rather silly books, in which he tried to give an account of how the universe could arise from absolutely nothing. The essence of his proposal is that "the incipience of the universe was an event in which absolutely nothing (not even spacetime) turned into a more interesting form of nothing, where opposites became distinguished." He explains as follows:| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
One objection to theistic arguments from design is that it seems as though God could have achieved most (if not all) of the goods of creating finite beings without bothering to make a physical world, complete with finely-tuned constants, life-permitting laws, and so on. As Neil Manson puts the objection:The problem here for proponents of the fine-tuning argument is that, if God| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
According to (what I think is) the right theory of intrinsic probability, there are three primary criteria which determine the prior of any given hypothesis:Modesty: How little a hypothesis says about the world. | Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
While perusing Alexander Pruss' blog, I came across a post in which he offers this quote from Aquinas:Hence we must say that the distinction and multitude of things come from the intention of the first agent, who is God. For He brought things into being in order that His goodness might be communicated to creatures, and be represented by them; and because His goodness could not be adequately represented by one creature alone, He produced many and diverse creatures, that what was wanting to one...| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
Jewish apologists commonly employ what has come to be known as the "Kuzari argument," which purports to show that the Jewish people really did receive a public revelation from God at Mount Sinai. Philosopher Tyron Goldschmidt formulates the crucial principle underlying this argument like so:The Kuzari Principle: A tradition is true if it is (1) accepted by a nation; and describes (2) a national experience of a previous generation of that nation; and (3) the national experience would be expect...| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
Here's a brief and plausibly sound argument:| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
There seems to be a deep intuitive connection between morality and interpersonal trust: if you knew somebody to be morally perfect, then you would trust them to keep their promises, not steal your possessions, not harm or kill you in your sleep, etc. But note that if utilitarianism is true, then this connection breaks down: there may be enumerable situations in which promise-breaking, theft, or even physical violence (up to and including murder) could serve to maximize utility. So if utilitar...| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
Introduction| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
[Note: Most of this post consists of fairly obvious observations about the consequences of modal dispositionalism; I just wanted to have this train of thought in writing somewhere.]| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
As the title says. The paper has been published Open Access, so there will be no paywall to deal with. Links to the paper are included below.| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
I think it's worth pointing out just how dramatic the probabilities being discussed in the fine-tuning argument really are. As John Hawthorne and Yoaav Isaacs point out:| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
My paper "Two challenges for 'no-norms' theism" has been accepted for publication in Religious Studies. I will post a link on this blog when it becomes available.| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
If one is a physicalist, then presumably one thinks that consciousness emerged as a result of naturalistic evolution. From this, it would seem to follow that consciousness was selected for, i.e. that it provided some kind of adaptive advantage, which lead to conscious organisms out-competing non-conscious ones. (If consciousness is a purely physical process, then it would likely depend on rather complex biological systems, and so it is unlikely to be a spandrel that simply piggy-backed on som...| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
Consider the following question: could the laws of nature have been different?| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
More people ought to read J.L. Schellenberg's excellent book Monotheism and the Rise of Science (2020), published by Cambridge University Press. In it, Schellenberg notes that there is "considerable support" for the claim that monotheism "contributed to science's early rise" (p. 4). He writes that "Monotheism and science... were not enemies at all but rather friends" (p. 47). He further notes that such a relationship might well reemerge, writing:When the total story of science’s relationshi...| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
Michael Huemer is an interesting guy. I don't have hard data on this, but I'm fairly confident that he's the only philosopher working today who simultaneously advocates veganism, anarcho-capitalism, agnosticism, and substance dualism. As such, it was not terribly surprising to find that he also believes in reincarnation, having defended the idea in a (very interesting) 2019 paper in Nous. The gist of Huemer's argument is as follows:If you were to live at most once in the history of the univer...| Jim Reilly's Philosophy Blog
A few years back, renowned chemist Peter Atkins wrote a couple of rather silly books, in which he tried to give an account of how the univer...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
Jason Brennan famously argues that the politically uninformed have a moral obligation not to vote. One of his arguments for this claim goes as follows (2011, 71):One has an obligation not to engage in collectively harmful activities when refraining from such activities does not impose significant| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
This brief (and plausibly sound) argument is inspired by Andrew Hronich's Biblical defense of universalism (the relevant portion begins around 28:30):Nobody can confess Jesus as Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3).| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
Felipe Leon's Argument Against Creation Ex Nihilo| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
Christopher Martin provides an interpretation of the fifth way which I find rather plausible. He contends that “unconscious teleology is alw...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
Jason Brennan famously argues that the politically uninformed have a moral obligation not to vote. One of his arguments for this claim goes ...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
I wonder if one might spell out the difference between Aquinas' first and second ways in terms of the distinction between event causation an...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
Here's a plausible (and entirely unoriginal) argument: If naturalism is true, then our capacity for profound aesthetic experience is a mere ...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
"You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." - Saint Augustine, Confessions 1.1.1. Introduction Prag...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
This brief (and plausibly sound) argument is inspired by Andrew Hronich's Biblical defense of universalism (the relevant portion begins aro...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com
Felipe Leon's Argument Against Creation Ex Nihilo Felipe Leon has recently put forth an argument against traditional theism, based on what ...| sed-contra-philosophy.blogspot.com