Some Ancient Chinese Philosophy on Why We Ought to Be Moral
When looking for “the objectively correct” answer to the question of why we should be moral, we also should look to what the ancient Chinese had to say on the matter. Not because it is any more likely to be correct than Western answers; but because ancient...Koons Cosmology vs. The Problem with Nothing
Recently on The Canadian Catholic Show I debated the cosmological argument with theologian Robert Koons, under the title “Does the Contingency Argument Succeed?” Koons took the position he has formally articulated in two articles, “A New Look at the...A Primer on Christian Anti-Intellectualism
I noted this month in my series on Justin Brierley’s book Unbelievable that rather than teaching its faithful how to think reliably, “Christianity teaches against any sound epistemology, even critical thinking.” In fact, “Christianity’s sacred...The False Trichotomy of Lord, Liar, or Lunatic
C.S. Lewis may have been the worst philosopher of the twentieth century. Worse even than his contemporary Ayn Rand. And that’s saying something; because she was pretty bad at it. Weirdly, he was an even worse historian. As Bart Ehrman put it, “The problem...Justin Brierley and the Folly of Christianity
This is the final entry in my series on Justin Brierley’s book Unbelievable? Why After Ten Years of Talking with Atheists, I’m Still a Christian. You can read my general summary of this book; where also at the bottom is a TOC linking to all the follow-ups, in...Justin Brierley on the Science of Existence
Does science prove God? It is painfully ironic that Justin Brierley opens his chapter on this topic with a false quote from a scientist (p. 22). This common Christian failure to do the work to ascertain what scientists have actually said about these subjects explains...Justin Brierley on Moral Knowledge & the Problem of Evil
“But why exactly do we believe that human life should be valued?” Justin Brierley asks (p. 52). Nowhere in his quest for an answer does he ever resort to asking experts in moral psychology or sociology what science has found the answer to this question...Justin Brierley and the Meaning of Life
“These are the reasons,” Justin Brierley says, “that I believe God is the best explanation of human existence, value and purpose” (p. 93). What reasons does he mean? Really, nothing more than a repeated confusion between the obvious natural...Unbelievable: Justin Brierley’s Epistemic Failure
Justin Brierley is an excellent host in Christian broadcasting. I’ve been on his show several times, including in person, when ironically I was an American visiting Brierley’s studio in London discussing the historicity of Jesus on a call with Mark...An Anatomy of Contemporary Right-Wing Delusions
I recently analyzed for a client the crazy rant of Chilean conservative thinktanker Axel Kaiser in “This Could End in Civil War” and realized this is a paradigmatic model of all contemporary right-wing delusionality and I should blog it. I covered a different...Erik Wielenberg and How Atheists Keep Missing the Point of Grounding Morality
In 2009 philosopher Erik Wielenberg published “In Defense of Non-Natural, Non-Theistic Moral Realism” in the journal Faith and Philosophy. The abstract claims: Many believe that objective morality requires a theistic foundation. I maintain that there are...More Hosing of Thought Experiments: Pereboom’s Manipulation Argument Against Causal-Chain Free Will
I’ve been asked to discuss what’s wrong with Derk Pereboom’s so-called “Manipulation Argument” (or “Four Case”) argument against Compatibilism, which is of course the view that causal determinism is compatible with free will....How I’d Answer the 2020 PhilPapers Survey
After reviewing the new 2020 PhilPapers Survey, I can say none of my views have changed; while philosophy as a field has slowly crept more toward my views than not (see my previous article, The New 2020 PhilPapers Survey, which also covers my thoughts on some of the...Another Failed Thought Experiment: Nozick’s Experience Machine and How It Exemplifies What Bad Philosophy Looks Like
I will be answering in my next article the new questions posed in the 2020 iteration of the PhilPapers survey (a new development I just wrote about). But one of those new questions requires a separate article on its own: the one written, “Experience machine...The New 2020 PhilPapers Survey
In 2009 a very useful and enlightening research study was done polling the opinions on key subjects of thousands of philosophers, called the PhilPapers Survey (something I wish someone would fund for Biblical Studies). Well, that study was repeated, with substantial...Get Dr. Carrier’s Latest!
About the Author
Richard Carrier is the author of many books and numerous articles online and in print. His avid readers span the world from Hong Kong to Poland. With a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University, he specializes in the modern philosophy of naturalism and humanism, and the origins of Christianity and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, with particular expertise in ancient philosophy, science and technology. He is also a noted defender of scientific and moral realism, Bayesian reasoning, and historical methods.
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