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I don't understand what you mean. Why does creativity disappear in the absence of god? I think it's a mistake to make it an issue of 'real' versus 'pseudo-' meaning. Instead I think its the difference between meaning derived from an external source and meaning derived from within, where I...

But then by your criterion of meaning - which posits a need for some external validating source - god's own existence is meaningless. If you can bypass this problem in the case of god and allow god to self-create meaning then why can't you do as much in the case of sentient beings like man?

Brad, a few comments on some of the interesting sources you have cited/provided: Your quote tells only one side of the story. Sure, if god's existence provides no 'positive epistemic considerations' then the conditions for denying god won't obtain (using your cited schema), but surely...

I thought we had this argument before? Echoing Slidey, America's healthcare system is the most expensive in the world (per capita) and yet it produces below par health outcomes. Many cheaper, more socialised alternatives do far better for less money. A potential hitch to consider is the issue of...

Food for thought: a paper by the philosopher Graham Priest Called What is so bad about contradictions? (I assume you have uni access to Jstor) - his answer is "maybe nothing much." For an interesting look at how contradiction may be a structural feature of certain kinds of philosophical...

It's certainly not an approach that I agree with, but some reasonable arguments have been made for such an approach (reasonable in that they deserve serious engagement). The most significant contemporary philosopher in this area, as far as I know, is probably Alvin Plantinga who has a three...

The debate we should be having is 'does evolution account for all the diversity of life?'. That microevolution takes place is as close to irrefutable as you could hope for in science. Captain Gh3y provides a nice example of macroevolution. It should not be controversial to claim that these...

My vote (as a dual citizen of Aus and the USA) will be for Obama. I feel that it will be a great loss to the world if he doesn't make it through; I will undoubtedly shed a tear if he doesn't succeed.

Similar thoughts often strike me. It's all quite astounding really. An ironic thought which once hit me was that, if determinism holds, deterministic processes have humorously managed to produce beings which both question and think about determinism. Similar thoughts pertain to evolutionary...

Though you play devil's advocate, you've done a terrific job of getting to the crux of the issue. Too often we quibble over questions derived from biblical claims, e.g. does god exist? do humans have free will? are there objective moral truths? To use the associated jargon, we argue about...

Alas, I must agree.

I don't get to play nearly as much as I would like anymore. I was playing electric bass in a UNSW stage band last year, which was quite fun, but decided to give it a break given the onset of an hour-hungry clinical load this year. Things I play: Electric bass - Usually in a...

I'm sure it doesn't come out in this thread, but I do know a small number of theists whose belief systems I respect. They are people who I have had debates with and have shown that they can defend their beliefs at a fundamental level. It's unreflective theism that I dislike and which I feel...

Fair enough, but I still think it's worth considering the bearing of critical theory in general on things like scientific and religious discourse. At least science allows critical theory through the door, so to speak, in that it is willing to question itself and to change. Compare this to a...

Haha, instant ownage. While I think of it: I reckon you'd get a kick from Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, if only for the iconoclast-factor. Sure, if you want to strip everything back to basics using a super-charged skepticism then I will conceed that I doubt whether...

I love that song. It's interesting to find such an explicit statement of solipsism in the pop-culture sphere. Probably not one to listen to in a dark state of mind.

I thought I'd post this for fun - I read a passage from Introduction to Metaphysics by Heidegger today which made me chuckle. Note the amusingly complex noun "attaining-the-ground-by-leaping": Writing on the question 'why ask 'why is there something rather than nothing?'?' (a.k.a. 'Why the...

We don't simply mock in this thread, *true*. Certainly, such statements are made in facetious moments and I apologise if we offend. However, many arguments have been put forward in this thread (look through my back-catalogue if you wish) which create problems for biblical literalists (I am not...

Wow, that cracker box shit is a terrible example of what constitutes a straw man argument. Also, statements which made me laugh: "We deserve to die. That's what the bible teaches." "I think that the bible is the most scientifically accurate book in the entire world." "This is god saying...

The first video was at least semi-reasonable up until the point where he claims that the source of the energy of the universe had to be "incredibly intelligent." He provides almost nil justification for that claim. Also, I have my doubts about the accuracy of our intuitions regarding space-time...