Is morality independent of religion? One common argument for this position is that denying it makes God’s commands arbitrary. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong argues, Let’s assume that God commanded us not to rape. Did God have any reason to command this? If not, his command was arbitrary, and then it can’t make anything morally wrong. On the […]
Entries Tagged as 'Philosophers'
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong on God, Morality and Arbitrariness
July 17th, 2009 21 Comments
Tags: Atheist · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Philosophy of Religion · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong · William Wainwright
Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique Part II
July 16th, 2009 Comments Off on Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique Part II
In Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique Part I, I noted that a defender of the permissibility of feticide, who does not also want to endorse infanticide and who defends the sentience criterion, must “identify a reason for holding that the potential of a human brain is morally relevant after” the fetus acquires […]
Tags: Abortion · David Boonin · Don Marquis · Ethics and Medicine · Feticide · Sentience
Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique Part I
July 15th, 2009 3 Comments
This two-part series was originally published as: Matthew Flannagan “Boonin’s Defense of the Sentience Criterion: A Critique” Ethics and Medicine – An International Journal of Bioethics Vol 25:2 (Summer 2009) 95-106. It is reproduced on this blog with permission. Abstract Defenders of the permissibility of feticide commonly argue that killing an organism is not homicide […]
Tags: Abortion · David Boonin · Don Marquis · Ethics and Medicine · Feticide · Sentience
See William Lane Craig and Christopher Hitchens debate: Does God Exist?
July 14th, 2009 3 Comments
You are invited to a Thinking Matters Auckland, God, Morality and Society, DVD screening: What: William Lane Craig v Christopher Hitchens debating Does God Exist? When: Tuesday 21 July – 7:00pm Where: Lecture Room 2, Laidlaw College, 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson, West Auckland Format: DVD followed by discussion. Cost: Free – donations appreciated. If […]
Tags: Apologetics · Events · Thinking Matters
Living Philosophers of Religion
July 13th, 2009 2 Comments
Over at Common Sense Atheism, Lukeprog has compiled an impressively comprehensive list of 100+ Living Philosophers of Religion and Their Best Work. Lukeprog identifies his list of philosophers of religion as those who have “published at least one influential work in the field” offering “analytic arguments over the truth of theism vs. atheism.” What I […]
Tags: Philosophy of Religion
Evolution should not be taught in State Schools: A Defence of Plantinga Part II
July 1st, 2009 66 Comments
In Evolution should not be taught in State Schools: A Defence of Plantinga Part I, I articulated and defended Alvin Plantinga’s proposal that evolution should not be taught as “the sober truth” in state schools. In this post I will address what should be taught in state schools and look at Robert Pennock’s objections to […]
Tags: Alvin Plantinga · Evolution · Public Policy · Public Schools · Religion in Public Life · Robert Pennock · Science and Religion · State Schools
Evolution should not be taught in State Schools: A Defence of Plantinga Part I
June 30th, 2009 55 Comments
In this two-part series I will sketch and defend Alvin Plantinga’s proposal that evolution should not be taught as “the sober truth” in state schools. In Part I, I will sketch Plantinga’s position and the arguments he provides for it; in Part II, I will look at what should be taught and then I’ll defend […]
Tags: Alvin Plantinga · Evolution · Public Policy · Public Schools · Religion in Public Life · Robert Pennock · Science and Religion · State Schools
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
