The formula “Freedom is Slavery” seems Orwellian but a version of it is true. Freedom is not slavery to a regime, government bureaucrats, a master race, one’s work, or another person, but to good sense, to rationality. Why is this? … Read the rest
Passive Voice in Fiction
The only advice I’ve heard about passive voice in fiction is: Don’t Use It. This is me offering more nuanced advice.
What is the Passive Voice?
Readers with a passion for grammar, second languages, or scientific writing will likely know … Read the rest
“Very” Is Not So Very Wrong
Mark Twain famously quipped that a writer who cannot think of a word to substitute for the word “very” should substitute “damn,” so as to form phrases like “damn beautiful” and “damn important.” The writer’s editor will delete “damn” and … Read the rest
I Am Beginning to Believe That Morality is Bunk
Before I discuss why the Argument from Moral Knowledge has pushed me in the direction of moral non-realism—the view that there are no objective more facts but only preferences, folkways, and the like—I want to discuss one of a family … Read the rest
Gettier Cases and Moral Knowledge
I’ve said that probabilistic arguments for God don’t do much to convince a committed atheist. But the Argument from Moral Knowledge can be reformulated so that it is not merely probabilistic. In other words, the standard atheist picture (humans … Read the rest
The Fine-Tuning Argument for God
Before I discuss the Argument from Moral Knowledge further it’s helpful to explain why I think the Fine-Tuning Argument for God isn’t so great an argument. Why the detour? I read other arguments for God that turn on our relationship … Read the rest
A Compelling Argument for God
I’ve already discussed how unconvincing I find William Lane Craig’s Moral Argument for God, so it is interesting that there is a cousin to this argument that I find compelling, the Argument from Moral Knowledge:
- We have knowledge
A Very Bad Argument for God
Some arguments for theism seem to either rest on a metaphysical confusion, like the Ontological Argument. Others might furnish evidence for God, such as the Cosmological Argument and the Argument From Design. But these arguments rarely convince non-theists, … Read the rest
Examples of Backwards Causation
We tend to believe that all causation is forwards; a cause must temporally precede its effect. But there are some delightful examples of at least possible backwards causation. Even if all they do is demonstrate the ridiculousness of backwards causation, … Read the rest
I Must Admit That Some People Believe in God
I am beginning to believe that some people actually believe in God. It’s astonishing, isn’t it? Somehow I gather I should have figured it out sooner.
I have some excuse. I was raised United Methodist, the Northern variety, not the … Read the rest