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Aquinas on the meaning of life
My article “Aquinas and the meaning of life” appears in the anthology The Meaning of Life and the Great Philosophers, edited by Stephen Leach and James Tartaglia and just published by Routledge. Lots...
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Aquinas on the human soul
My article “Aquinas on the Human Soul” appears in the anthology The Blackwell Companion to Substance Dualism, edited by Jonathan Loose, Angus Menuge, and J. P. Moreland and just published by...
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The Church permits criticism of popes under certain circumstances
Fathers have the authority to teach and discipline their children, but this authority is not absolute. They may not teach their children to do evil, and they may not discipline them with unjust...
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Musical chairs brains minds
Comics, like science fiction, can be a great source for philosophical thought experiments. Recently I’ve been re-reading one of the classic Marvel storylines from the 1970s, the “Headmen saga” from...
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Talk amongst yourselves
We’re due for another open thread, so here goes. That threadjacking comment of yours from two weeks ago that got deleted? Repost it here, where it will be welcome and on topic. ‘Cause whether its...
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The two Cartesian worlds
The “interaction problem” is traditionally regarded as the main objection to Descartes’ brand of dualism. I’ve discussed it many times here at the blog, and of course it is addressed in my book...
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Gödel and the mechanization of thought
At the recent Society of Catholic Scientists conference, Peter Koellner gave a lucid presentation on the relevance of Gödel’s incompleteness results to the question of whether thought can be...
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Around the web
Stephen French reviews William Simpson, Robert Koons, and Nicholas Teh’s anthology Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, at Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.Sabine Hossenfelder’s Lost...
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The ad hominem fallacy is a sin
An argumentum ad hominem (or “argument to the man”) is the fallacy committed when, instead of addressing the merits of an argument someone presents you with, you attack the person himself – his...
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Laws of nature at Fermilab
Recently I spent a day at Fermilab and gave a talk on the topic ”What is a Law of Nature?” I had a wonderful time and thank the kind folks at Fermilab for their hospitality. You can now watch the...
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Crane and French on science and Aristotelianism
I called attention recently to the new anthology Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, edited by William Simpson, Robert Koons, and Nicholas Teh, to which I contributed an essay. (If...
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Fallacies physicists fall for
In his essay “Quantum Mechanics and Ontology” in his anthology Philosophy in an Age of Science, Hilary Putnam notes that “mathematically presented quantum-mechanical theories do not wear their...
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Five Proofs on radio
Last week I appeared on The Drew Marshall Show to discuss Five Proofs of the Existence of God. You can listen to the episode here.Links to other recent radio and television interviews can be found here.
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Tugwell on St. Albert on negative theology
Negative theology is a crucial component of classical theism. To a first approximation, the idea is that at least with respect to some aspects of the divine nature, we can say what God is not rather...
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Pope Francis and capital punishment
Pope Francis has changed the Catechism’s teachingon capital punishment so that it now flatly rules out the practice as “inadmissible” on doctrinal, and not merely prudential, grounds – apparently...
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Three problems with the change to the Catechism
In a new article at Catholic Herald, I analyze the recent revision to the Catechism in greater detail. I argue that there are three serious problems with it. An op-ed on the revision by Joseph...
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An Open Appeal to the Cardinals of the Church
An international group of 45 Catholic scholars and clergy has signed an appeal to the cardinals of the Catholic Church, calling on them to advise Pope Francis to retract the recent revision made to the...
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Review of Pinker’s Enlightenment Now
My reviewof Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progressappears in the Summer 2018 issue of the Claremont Review of Books.Links to other book reviews from CRB...
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The Immateriality of the Mind
At the Society of Catholic Scientists meeting at Catholic University of America last June, I gave the keynote address on the topic “Arguments for the Immateriality of the Mind.” You can now watch the...
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Hubris meets nemesis?
The pattern is by now familiar. Serious criticisms are leveled by serious people against the pope; the pope ignores them; and his associates and defenders disregard the substance of the criticisms...
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