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A whole lotta links
At Substack, philosopher Michael Robillard explains how he left academia, and how academia left him.Anna Krylov warns of the growing politicization of science, in the Journal of Physical Chemistry....
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Schmid on the Aristotelian proof
A fellow named Joseph Schmid has written a number of articles and blog posts critical of various ideas and arguments of mine, such as the Aristotelian proof defended in chapter 1 of my book Five Proofs...
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Schmid on existential inertia
At his blog, Joseph Schmid has replied to my recent post about his criticisms of the Aristotelian proof. The reply is extremely long. Now, I often write long blog posts myself. Indeed, my previous...
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The metaphysical presuppositions of formal logic
By “logic” we might mean (a) the rules that determine the difference between good and bad reasoning, or (b) some formal system that codifies these rules in a specific way, such as the systems of...
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Aquinas on bad prelates
What attitude should a Catholic take toward cruel and arbitrary prelates – for example, those who endlessly stir up division and then shamelessly blame the division on those who note and bemoan the...
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Pope Victor redux?
The Quartodeciman controversy of the second century A.D. had to do with the date on which the resurrection of Christ ought to be observed. Churches in Asia Minor preserved the custom of tying this...
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Pope Francis’s scarlet letter
Consider two groups of Catholics: First, divorced Catholics who disobey the Church’s teaching by forming a “new union” in which they are sexually active, thereby committing adultery. And second,...
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Anaximander and natural theology
The idea of natural theology is the idea of knowledge of God’s existence and nature that is attainable through purely philosophical arguments, entirely independently of any special divine revelation....
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Oppy on Thomistic cosmological arguments
My article “Oppy on Thomistic cosmological arguments” has just been published in the latest issue of the journal Religious Studies. (It’s behind a paywall, sorry.) It is a reply to all of the...
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Adventures in the Old Atheism, Part V: Woody Allen
So far in this series we’ve considered Nietzsche, Sartre, Freud, and Marx. None of them is exactly a laugh riot. So let’s now take a look at the lighter side of atheistic disenchantment and nihilism,...
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Sterba on the problem of evil
Recently my article “The Thomistic Dissolution of the Logical Problem of Evil” appeared in the journal Religions. It was part of a special issue devoted to critical responses to James Sterba’s book Is...
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Oppy and Feser after-party
After the first exchange Graham Oppy and I had on Cameron Bertuzzi’s show Capturing Christianitytwo years ago, Cameron hosted an after-show Q & A for his patrons. He has now made it available to...
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Confucius on our times
What is essential to a well-functioning society? In a famous passage from The Great Learning traditionally attributed to Confucius (551-479 B.C.), the philosopher says:The ancients who wished to...
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Aquinas on humor and social life
In Summa TheologiaeII-II.168.2-4, Aquinas discusses the essential role that play and humor have in human life. They are necessary for the health of the individual, insofar as in their absence the mind...
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Make-believe matter
Materialism can at first blush seem to have a more commonsensical and empirical character than Cartesian dualism. The latter asks you to believe in a res cogitans that is unobservable in principle....
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Ioannidis on the politicization of science
Like other academics, I first became aware of John Ioannidis through his influential 2005 paper “Why Most Published Research Findings are False.” That essay was widely praised as a salutary reminder...
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Lao Tzu’s negative theology
Among the most interesting things about Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu (fl. 6thcentury B.C.) is that he did not exist. Or at least, that’s what some modern scholars tell us. I’m skeptical about his...
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The “first world problem” of evil
Suffering, atheists frequently assure us, is not what we would expect if God exists. You might suppose, then, that where there is greater suffering, there will be fewer believers in God, and where...
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It’s the next thrilling open thread!
Please keep in mind, dear reader, that if you’re inclined to begin a comment with “This is off-topic, but…” then you shouldn’t post it. Certainly I won’t approve it. Wait for a post where it will be...
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Covid-19 vaccination is not the hill to die on
What should Catholics think about the Covid-19 vaccines and about vaccine mandates? I keep getting asked about this, so a post devoted to the topic seems in order. As I have said before, I think that...
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