Tom Storm

Well yes, this is a familiar and dare I say Hitchensesque argument and one I have certainly adopted form time to time. But human beings justify bad ac...

I want to see your Heidegger dance first, just to test your interpretive powers...

That's ok. As long as we both behave, that's fine.

Agree although the pseudo-questions is a new one for me. Makes sense. Can you say some more?

I know plenty of people who say they know God's mind. Pity they disagree with each other. Do you know God's mind or are you more like me on this matte...

Hey... I thought we were going to wait until engaging again? :smile: I don't really care if people believe in God. In fact, one of my closest friends ...

So my point was how do you know you are right? You seem dogmatic, like a Christian apologist. The 'only one view' response is curious. Capital T truth...

Thanks, that's an elegant summary.

:up: You may be right there. I must say I wrestle with this one but it doesn't keep me up at night. I inhabit the quotidian.

That just sounds to me like a secular idea. I would have thought religions often increase existential anxiety - especially worrying about God's judgme...

I'd be interested in what your ideas of the 'unexamined life' might be. I'm wondering where the fault line lies between unexamined and examined? Is it...

Exactly right. Which is why I responded with my list of secular community alternatives, some of which also address identity. Transcendence? I am not s...

Even if this is true, it still leaves us with a key question. How can you determine good from bad philosophy? Supplementary question: Did you arrive a...

What do you think?

Interesting that you assume I care about Nabakov. I was more interested in the justification of your somewhat lofty pronouncement/s. So are you saying...

You've just made a truth claim independent of woo. If what you contend here is true, then you can't say what you just said and it be true. Or not?

Does this not make an assumption that you have a talent for identifying pertinence? If we don't see something is it because it is not there, or becaus...

Vladimir Nabokov notwithstanding. It's an interesting claim. Where did you crib it from? For what reason?

Huh? Let's move on dimo. Maybe some time another subject will bring out more useful aspects of each other. Take care.

Yes. I recall Richard Rorty calling them the old reformist left versus the cultural left.

I responded directly to the issues the person raised. I can't help it if you didn't follow.

Nonsense. There are(for those who want community) freethinker, skeptic, humanist, rationalist, atheist social groups, societies and community events, ...

Yes. Eccentric reasoning, it seems.

Is English not your first language? Taking the piss means taking the Mickey or poking fun with something. Not sarcasm. Advice. You'll note, if you wer...

No - I'm saying that you may not be genuine because you appear to be taking the piss. You'll be a lot happier given that you are so concerned about th...

Well my point is that I (and no person in history, probably) have never seen an example of nothing before and I doubt that nothing ever existed - sinc...

This is an example of what I mean. Of course not - you agreeing with me is not important. It's your approach. It seems like you are taking the piss. I...

I don't think you are a genuine interlocutor so I will leave this to the sensible arguments of 180 Proof. Take care

I am an atheist but I don't tend to trade in answers. And I don't buy the question: why is there something rather than nothing? It's not a question I ...

Religion is human behaviour (this is your whole point) so religious history is human history. I can only imagine that you are having a joke with this ...

Yes - that is my exact point.People practice religion and interpret it - how do you know which version is correct? Deciding on this means you are inte...

Yes, this is what many Christians teach and believe. All over the world. And then there's Islam... You are not following my point. Religions have inte...

Lots of people think this. But what is the evidence? I doubt this is true. And I suspect it goes the other way - a lot of morally repugnant behavior h...

I think this is excellent advice. Yes, I have learned to understand morality as performative. The point already made is that not many care what a 'god...

Of course not. That's not my point. My point is that theists and atheists share a moral starting point. Personal preference. Err... no. They are an ex...

I agree but since we don't (can't?) know God's mind, how could anyone assume to know if God's standards based on the information available? By the way...

What makes you think religions or god beliefs make people behave morally? I have worked with prisoners for 30 plus years. Many of them have believed i...

I understand. I'm certainly not up to that original intent. I have an interest, but it is not a passion.

Interesting - I've read Evan as a counterpart to Michel Bitbol. If I had time I might read more in this area. Phenomenology too, only I fear a slide i...

Theologian David Bentley Hart reminds us that literal interpretations of Old Testament particularly are a recent pietist reaction. Traditionally the O...

I think it's a pretty good article and it summarizes the issues well. Pretty sure I said that last time. I have followed up by looking at some work by...

From the Blind Spot Aeon Magazine: So the belief that scientific models correspond to how things truly are doesn’t follow from the scientific method. ...

Almost anything is possible in that space, I agree.

This is not a surprise - the speed might be, but not the result.

:up: That's the one. Vested interests trumps (no pun intended) ideology every time. In the meantime SA funds Wahhabi radicalism worldwide.

Interesting they didn't bomb Saudi Arabia, given that's where the hijackers were predominantly from.

So the suffering and cruelty of 'creation' is reflective of a cruel God who behaves like a Mafia boss in scripture? I think a lot of humanists have id...

If that's the case (and I am not sure what version of God you are applying this too and how you know this, but you could be correct) - we can't make a...

Yes, and in the case of Chopin especially, anything written and now known is a codified version of something he generally performed with extravagant c...

Not the first existentialist exactly, but a theorist whom proto-existentialists like Kierkegaard and Nietzsche reacted to. Sartre of course rejected t...