Pascal’s Wager and the Ad Baculum Fallacy

I’m sure you’ve all heard of Pascal’s Wager. The gist of it is that if you bet on there being a God (meaning, to Pascal, the Medieval Catholic God), you have an infinite expected return on investment, because at worst it costs you nothing (or at...

Study the Science & Philosophy of Free Will with Me!

Do we have free will? In what sense? What sort of free will are we supposed to be talking about? Who or what is a will a will of? What are praise and blame, guilt and innocence for? What is fatalism and why is it bad for you? Challenge yourself by studying these...

Naturalism Is Not an Axiom of the Sciences but a Conclusion of Them

I recently found an article from 2011 making a point I’ve long made myself, that the entire notion of a “presumption of naturalism” being axiomatic to history and the sciences is both an error made by some historians and scientists and an apologetic...

Theism & Atheism: Science

Part 3 of my series on the new Macmillan reference Theism & Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy: my discussion of the Argument from Science, which holds that the collective consequence of the advance of the sciences is the substantial reduction in the...

Theism & Atheism: Miracles

Part 2 of my series on the new Macmillan reference Theism & Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy: my discussion of the Argument from Miracles, which turns that argument on its head. Far from being evidence for theism, the collective evidence regarding miracle...

Theism & Atheism: Doxastic Foundations

This year Macmillan produced a peer reviewed collection of position papers between atheists and theists titled Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy (2019), in which I contributed several chapters. Like most academic monographs these days it’s...

Who Is an Atheist?

Is everyone who lacks belief in a god an atheist? Or is there always some middle category—we’ll call it “agnostic”—such that (a) they don’t believe any gods exist but also, at the same time, (b) they can never be called an atheist?...

That Jordan Peterson Is a Crank: A Handy Guide

Jordan Peterson has already become a joke in many circles. But enough remain mesmerized by his shtick to warrant a survey of why he’s just another pseudoscientific guru running a con. He is, essentially, the Deepak Chopra of the Nones; and his books, akin to The...

Will AI Be Our Moses?

Last Friday the 13th I discussed the future of morality with Canadian philosopher Christopher DiCarlo. We advertised the subject with a double question: “Is Society Making Moral Progress and Can We Predict Where It’s Going?” The description was apt:...

Disarming the Motte and Bailey in Cultural Discourse

In aid and honor of my one-month online Critical Thinking Course that starts this weekend (Register Now!), I want to introduce you to a rhetorical (or indeed psychological) tactic that is found everywhere but you probably didn’t know someone had a name for it. I...

Speaking in Toronto!

Philosopher Christopher DiCarlo and I will be discussing “Is Society Making Moral Progress and Can We Predict Where It’s Going?” on Friday, September 13th, at the Toronto Public Library from 7-9pm. That’s, of course, Toronto, Canada....

The Carrier-Marshall Debate: My Closing Reply

Christian historian Dr. Wallace Marshall and I are debating whether or not enough evidence points to the existence of a god. For background and format, and Dr. Wallace’s opening statement, see entry one. For subsequent entries, see index. We’re now closing up Dr....

The Carrier-Marshall Debate: Marshall’s Twelfth Response

Christian historian Dr. Wallace Marshall and I are debating whether or not enough evidence points to the existence of a god. For background and format, and Dr. Wallace’s opening statement, see entry one. For subsequent entries, see index. We’re now closing up Dr....

The Carrier-Marshall Debate: My Twelfth Reply

Christian historian Dr. Wallace Marshall and I are debating whether or not enough evidence points to the existence of a god. For background and format, and Dr. Wallace’s opening statement, see entry one. For subsequent entries, see index. We’re now discussing the...

The Carrier-Marshall Debate: Marshall’s Eleventh Response

Christian historian Dr. Wallace Marshall and I are debating whether or not enough evidence points to the existence of a god. For background and format, and Dr. Wallace’s opening statement, see entry one. For subsequent entries, see index. We’re now on to Dr....

The Carrier-Marshall Debate: My Eleventh Reply

Christian historian Dr. Wallace Marshall and I are debating whether or not enough evidence points to the existence of a god. For background and format, and Dr. Wallace’s opening statement, see entry one. For subsequent entries, see index. We’re now discussing the...