MandM header image 5

Entries Tagged as 'Ethics'

Randal Rauser’s Mistake: A Defense of Calvin’s Doctrine of Election

November 12th, 2011 77 Comments

Thanks go to Matthew Flannagan for pointing me in the direction of this response to the problem. A while back Professor Randal Rauser issued a blog entitled “Calvinism and the Arbitrary Camp Director” in which he criticised the Calvinist understanding of election. For those of you who are unaware of the Calvinistic understanding of election, [...]

Tags:   · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Contra Mundum: When Scientists Make Bad Ethicists

October 10th, 2011 390 Comments

One thing I find particularly frustrating is reading commentary on theology and philosophy written by scientists. To be fair, some scientists I have read are informed and do offer astute and insightful comments; commonly, however, one finds a person who is undoubtedly brilliant in their own field, writing with confident gusto, articles that fail to [...]

Tags:   · · · · · · ·

Hear Matt’s EPS Apologetics Conference Paper in Advance & Eat 3 Courses for $10 – This Weekend in Auckland

September 26th, 2011 1 Comment

We are going to the United States in November to, between us, give 4 talks to 4 different conferences that we have been invited to speak at (details below). We need to raise the funds to get there and so far we have raised about half of what we need thanks to the generosity of readers [...]

Tags:   · · · · · ·

Skepticule Extra – A Podcast on the Euthyphro Dilemma Feat. Matthew Flannagan

September 16th, 2011 31 Comments

Recently Matt did a podcast on Divine Command Theory and the Euthyphro Dilemma for Skepticule Extra,  aka the “Pauls to the Power of Three Podcast” hosted by Paul Baird, Paul Thompson (“Sinbad”)  and Paul S. Jenkins. You can listen to that podcast here. Visit Skepticule for more listening options.

Tags:   · · · · ·

Divine Commands Post 9/11

September 12th, 2011 43 Comments

The night of September 11, 2001, was a night we did not get much sleep in. By 4am September 12 (New Zealand time) our two-week old son and 14 month old daughter had woken us twice already. Frustratingly, I awoke again sometime after 4am to a different noise coming from the lounge; it turned out [...]

Tags:   · · · · ·

Response to William Lane Craig’s Question 225: “The ‘Slaughter’ of the Canaanites Re-visited” Part II

August 12th, 2011 156 Comments

In my last post “Response to William Lane Craig’s Question 225: “The ‘Slaughter’ of the Canaanites Re-visited” Part I” I discussed William Lane Craig’s position on the Canaanite Conquest account (in light of the fact that Craig referred to my argument in his question of the week: “Question 225: The “Slaughter” of the Canaanites Re-visited”). I [...]

Tags:   · · · · · · · · ·

Response to William Lane Craig’s Question 225: “The ‘Slaughter’ of the Canaanites Re-visited” Part I

August 11th, 2011 6 Comments

Every week William Lane Craig answers a question on his website; this week’s question of the week is entitled “The “Slaughter” of the Canaanites Re-visited”. The questioner asked what Craig thinks of the Canaanite Conquest account. I got a mention in Craig’s reply: “The topic of God’s command to destroy the Canaanites was the subject [...]

Tags:   · · · · · · · · ·

Contra Mundum: Consenting Adults and Harm

August 6th, 2011 85 Comments

In debates over abortion, homosexual conduct, euthanasia, prostitution, drugs, those who call themselves liberals often mount the same basic argument; a socially or morally permissive stance is necessitated towards such practices because people have a right to choose do what ever they like with their own bodies. As John Stuart Mill put it in his [...]

Tags:   · · · · · · ·

“Are there Good Reasons for Abortion?” Wendy Savage and Madeleine Flannagan Debate on Unbelievable?

July 24th, 2011 50 Comments

This week, the UK’s Christian Premier Radio show, Unbelievable?, aired an episode on the topic “are there good reasons for abortion?” The episode saw host, Justin Brierley, moderate a debate between this blog’s Madeleine Flannagan and Professor Wendy Savage, a representative of Doctors for a Women’s Choice. A range of topics related to the issue of [...]

Tags:   · · · ·

Ethics in Journalism – Hear Matt’s Interview on Radio Rhema

July 23rd, 2011 6 Comments

On Thursday Matt was interviewed on Radio Rhema by their breakfast host, Tim Sisarich, on the topic of ethics in journalism. This was in the wake of the media frenzy over the Israelis killed in the Christchurch earthquake and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key’s rebuttal to claims that they were spies. The Murdoch saga was [...]

Tags:   · ·