Epistemology Was Darwin a philosopher? 12 May 2010 It is only fair that I apply the same standards to my saviour-figure that I apply to others (Paul Griffiths wants a t-shirt with the slogan “Darwin is my personal saviour”). In fact I published an essay asking whether Darwin was a historiographer, if not a historian (answer: yes). So… Continue Reading
Epistemology Fishing for philosophy 11 May 2010 Okay, so my last response on Jesus as a philosopher didn’t satisfy Chris Schoen, but then nobody, least of all me or him, thought that I was going to be able to. But I find some interesting misunderstandings. Since the onus for communication lies with the communicator, this is clearly… Continue Reading
Epistemology Jesus a philosopher part 2 10 May 2010 Chris Schoen, he of the u n d e r v e r s e, has taken me to task for my Jesus was not a philosopher post… Conveniently he makes the three objections I expected in one clear place. Also conveniently, he is nice about it, so we may… Continue Reading
Epistemology The Philosophers' Menu 4 May 2010 The Philosophers’ Menu Presuppositions. Kantelope Assorted carnaps Pareto soup Hart-boyled eggs with a rescher of bacon Major Premises Jugged hare, with milled popper Skinnered peacocke, with nashed paretos Plato’ the Day Humeburger, with gibbard gravy Frankfurts and schauer kraut Bass van frassen [sic] Nagels and lockes Frege legs with russell… Continue Reading
Epistemology The Philosophers’ Menu 4 May 2010 The Philosophers’ Menu Presuppositions. Kantelope Assorted carnaps Pareto soup Hart-boyled eggs with a rescher of bacon Major Premises Jugged hare, with milled popper Skinnered peacocke, with nashed paretos Plato’ the Day Humeburger, with gibbard gravy Frankfurts and schauer kraut Bass van frassen [sic] Nagels and lockes Frege legs with russell… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy God is dead, so be good for goodness sake 27 Apr 2010 Michael Ruse addresses the question of whether or not the lack of a God means atheists should rape and pillage. His answer and mine is no, we do things because we are humans and humans follow moral standards. Actually, I would take that a bit further and say, we are… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Evolution quotes 25 Apr 2010 A man who has no assured and ever present belief in the existence of a personal God or of a future existence with retribution and reward, can have for his rule of life, as far as I can see, only to follow those impulses and instincts which are the strongest… Continue Reading
Biology Book reviews 24 Apr 2010 Several interesting book reviews arrived in my feed this morning, of books I have not read. Jerry Coyne reviews FAPP’s What Darwin Got Wrong alongside Dawkins’ The Greatest Show on Earth. I cannot help but think that he is on the one hand very easy on Dawkins and fails to… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Catholic ethics, and the Australian Museum 20 Apr 2010 Read this piece about how the Catholic Church is sponsoring a “science ethics” prize through the Australian Museum. Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Peter Jensen – religious bigot 13 Apr 2010 Archbishop Peter Jensen is living proof of the old saw that religion should be a private matter. Every time he opens his mouth in public, he just exposes his bigotry against the nonreligious even further. Now he is saying that teaching ethics to children should be stopped because it will… Continue Reading