Tom Storm

Good—no worries. I'm here because I've never really prioritized philosophy. I find the forum experience interesting, and I enjoy asking people who’ve ...

You're partly right. I was wondering if my take was right or not, so I asked for his view. It does correspond to some of my thoughts, so there's that....

What did you make of Assange’s endorsement of Albo?

Yes. Although you're technically not fined for not voting, you are fined for not ticking your name off the list and taking the ballot sheets. You can ...

No, I forgot until you mentioned it. I voted on Monday. Obama said that if he could take one thing form Australia it would be compulsory voting. Austr...

Isn't it also said that there's an elitist element to it? Only certain people with the right reading and education and sensibilities are able to under...

D&H as polemicists have had the most traction on the internet. I guess they are entertaining polemicists, if you like that kind of thing. The New Athe...

You always bring precision to the cause. Ok, good. I guess that's where I sit. Well there you go. Indeed. Thanks. I think this is similar to what I sa...

@"Banno" can you help me understand this appeal to axiomatic or foundational truth? This is an axiom held within a system developed by JDC. But is the...

That's fair.

:up: Well... I'm not sure we have access to truth. Philosophy begins with folk conceptions of the world, which explains why debates like realism versu...

My conversations with theists who argue this time and again. All these sorts of arguments exist solely as a riposte to to common arguments put out by ...

In my experince there is always a way for theists to get God 'off the hook.' If you are passionate about your beliefs you will find a work around. Rem...

In so far as the evidence affords. But there’s a limit. It’s 1980’s Carl Sagan, I think. New Atheism is just packaging the free thought arguments of e...

Nicely written. I don't really have a problem with this. When I have debated God with others it is usually fundamentalists so my approach is perfectly...

I am saying that this comment from you: Seems mistaken. As an atheist who doesn't beleive that there are gods, reality does not become a triumph of na...

Interesting excerpt, thanks.

As per my examples. Well it would depend how it's being used. Thanks, this discussion has gone all over the shop. My original problem with faith was t...

It's curious that you keep making arguments against positions I do not hold. It seems you are perhaps bigoted against atheists, perceiving them all as...

Now that's a good point and I can't find anything to disagree with.

Yes, this is instructive. And corresponds to the fact that among my Christian friends there is a range of views about what faith is and whether people...

Thanks. There's a lot wrapped up in this notion of faith that has been left unsaid. The problem is that you're just demonstrating that many Christians...

That has been my instinct for much of this. Interesting.

But you're not being very philosophical, are you? It's just insults and ad hominems, presumably because you hate atheism and see everyone in the image...

Fascinating! Curious. Am I wrong to want to include 'evidence'?

Are we able to talk without personal attack? If so, then let's step this out. It's hardly surprising that an atheist would consider religion to be wro...

Ok, well that seems a more reasonable explanation. So this is probably at the nub of our difference here. I generally hold that “faith” isn’t a useful...

I can't tell whether your righteous indignation is genuine or just a performance. We're simply having a conversation about faith here. If that's enoug...

Theists often say to atheists, “You guys live by faith too—every time you fly.” I wouldn’t have thought to compare those two ideas myself. I raised it...

What counts as a genuine philosopher and poet?

So, at the risk of becoming boring, if I trust that a plane will fly me somewhere safely because of empirical evidence that they do, almost without fa...

I don’t recall saying religious people aren’t human beings. I thought you disliked rhetorical stunts like this. I was simply asking that we consider e...

I don’t understand this argument at all. Much life is suffering and gloomy regardless of theism or atheism. The experience doesn’t change with or with...

You might be right - although I don't recall appealing to an echo chamber. I find this interesting. Now bear with me, I'm not a philosopher, so this i...

Sure, I can see that it's inflammatory. But polemicists aren't always wrong. Being polemical can be a kind of poetry. As a theist, you would of course...

So I have always held that faith is the excuse people give for believing something when they don't have a good reason. The Russell quote seems to prov...

I guess my angle here is that I exclude a range of people because of an intuitive feeling about them, and a range of preferences that I don't think I ...

Good point. That's clear. Thanks.

There are lots of people I would exclude or, perhaps more to the point, not invite into my life. I tend to avoid people whose views or behaviours limi...

@"Banno" sorry mate - what do you think of this definition? If I am wrong about faith is it because I am wrong about the nature of belief? "An element...

I've always taken faith to mean belief in things without evidence. Apparently, this is wrong. I think I arrived at this view through Bertrand Russell,...

Mass extermination of a people is still mass extermination of a people, regardless of the word used. Deuteronomy 20:16–17: 'In the cities of the natio...

Interesting.

It does disappear if your version of god is less benevolent sky wizard and more ground of being. Mind you, the Bible deosn't help as it depicts a pret...

Happy birthday, Javi! I have only had a couple birthday parties in my entire life and they were both when I was under 8. I do not like parties and hav...

This is not my area but I was kind of interested in Third Man argument as it appears in Parmenides. (Section 132a-133b ). If we say that all large thi...

Not sure that would necessarily amount to nihilism—perversity and cruelty are value-laden terms, and many people actually find them galvanizing, even ...

I think it’s the usual footnotes to Nietzsche’s god is dead and we’ve lost our way… But the solution is different to N’s it tends to be to be a nostal...

He seems more of a Protestant to me. I vote Anglican, which by sheer blandness is a sure path to San?tana Dharma. Edit - sorry I just saw the response...

I'm curious whenever someone paraphrases Nietzsche on this, just how they interpret this particular well-worn notion. Peterson, as you may know, pract...