In Unwind, Neil Shusterman gave us a brilliantly disturbing look at a culture in which parents can have teenage children “unwound” – a process which kills them as every part of their physical body is separated and given to someone else. Shusterman introduced some weighty concepts in Unwind: Do we have souls? Do people have intrinsic worth? What makes human life … [Read more...]
Arguments from Consciousness
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: A particularly interesting argument for God’s existence stems from the human consciousness. When a person describes the human consciousness, one is describing not only the awareness of a particular person, … [Read more...]
The God Question: A TV Series Investigates the Relationship Between Science and Faith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ThxrHkO-Mk The God Question, a TV series bringing together world renowned contributors on both sides of the debate on God and science, explores the question of whether there is design evident in the universe. The series, a Scottish venture that promises to reach 170 million potential viewers internationally, features figures of note in the … [Read more...]
Atheism, Humans and Robots
The standard disclaimer: I am not speaking about or attacking atheists. Instead, my goal is to rationally work through the logical implications of the atheistic worldview. (Please notice how I define atheism). My conclusion is that, if atheism is true, then we need to re-imagine how we understand human beings. … [Read more...]
The Promissory Metaphysics of Thomas Nagel: A Review of Mind and Cosmos
A review of Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False by Thomas Nagel I didn’t expect to write this review. In fact, I didn’t know when I would get around to reading this book. When a book is reviewed by the likes of William Dembski and Alvin Plantinga, what could a poor schlub like myself have to offer? Possibly not … [Read more...]
Much Undead Ado About Nothing
The debate about what it means to be human has taken an interesting direction following the recent fixation with zombies. The Walking Dead and Philosophy opened with two essays arguing that the consideration of philosophical zombies (P-Zombies) - theoretical beings identical to humans but lacking consciousness, qualia, or sentience - mitigates against a purely materialistic … [Read more...]
How Do You Solve A Problem Like A Zombie?
Even before "The Walking Dead" and "Jersey Shore" became popular, the world had been introduced to the notion of philosophical zombies, theoretical creatures identical to human beings with one tiny distinction - they have no consciousness, qualia, or sentience. Imagine a twin who is identical to you in every possible material way but lacks any type of inner subjective … [Read more...]