I recently read Alvin Plantinga’s powerful book, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism. I have little to say against what he deals with and bow to his well-organized, scholarly mind. He does a better job than any of a half-dozen or so books I’ve read which critique the metaphysical imperialism of some … [Read more…]
[In this essay, I’ll be mostly recapping ideas I’ve developed and written about over the previous 10 years or so. These ideas are necessary to understand my deepest and most hardened objections to forms of dualism other than those which are necessary and bracketed ways of speaking.] In my parrot-mode, I say: “Created being is … [Read more…]
In the essay, When Does Human Life Begin?, Brook Stanton makes a clear and forceful statement, with highly summarized arguments which are really—and he admits so—references to well-established facts and theories of modern biology: human life begins at conception. He doesn’t show awareness that there is some, if not total, truth in the claim that … [Read more…]
Let’s be philosophical: What is knowledge? Under my metaphysics, knowledge is a misleading way to refer to an encapsulation of being in our own being. Words like `know’ and `knowledge’ are our ways of speaking about our active responses to what lies outside of us but also our active responses to our own human being. … [Read more…]
We Are the Image of God, Except When that Requires Effort on Our Part At an Easter Vigil Mass (RC), I was a lector—5th reading. That reading is from the book of the prophet Isaiah and includes these lines: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. … [Read more…]
Far too often, Christians—including some who should know better—claim that: Christianity is simple; just follow Christ’s teaching of loving your neighbor and doing good for him. Baloney. For reference, this is the link to the creed, Profession of Faith, used in the Catholic Mass on Sundays and other Holy Days: Profession of Faith used in … [Read more…]
[Draft as of 2016/10/03. Hoping for publication on Internet before end of 2016.] Is a man a unity or is he a collection of warring fragments? Or is something else true, perhaps an intermediate view, or—my favorite—some sort of complex being not describable in current terms of discourse? I should qualify my statement of the … [Read more…]
Over the past few centuries or more, Western Christians have retreated from a proper engagement with God’s Creation. Many modern scientists and philosophers now work actively to sequester religious beliefs in the most general sense. Sometimes this is as crude and as juvenile as claiming that the success of the equations of modern physics prove … [Read more…]
In reviewing A war for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars by Andrew Hartman, Seth Bartee writes: In A War for the Soul of America Hartman argues that the late 20th century’s cultural conflicts were born out of the tumultuous 1960s. To most observers this might not seem a particularly provocative … [Read more…]
Let’s do a Plato-update. Mathematics is the key, as it was for that heavyweight wrestler (according to some rumors which even hint at championships). Very roughly speaking, philosophy to Plato was a generalization of the thinking done in geometry and arithmetic. It may not be true that Plato’s school (the Platonic Academy Academy) had a … [Read more…]