I’ve never quite understood why some New Atheists think it so important to resolve the issue of free will, or why they think it so important to deny free will. It seems like they are tilting at metaphysical windmills, using physics and neuroscience as determinist jousts. Even if there is a definitional or material sense [...]
Tags:determinism·free will·Jerry Coyne·materialism·New Atheism·Owen Jones·Paul Bloom·Sam Harris·Templeton Foundation
In my first post on Robert Rowthorn’s paper “Fertility, Religion and Genes,” I focused on its faulty premises and unrealistic assumptions; I also substituted the word “love” for “religion” in Rowthorn’s argument to show that nearly any beneficial and complex human behavioral trait could be explained using the same single gene model. In my second [...]
Tags:alleles·atheism·complex traits·confounding variable·culture·diabetes·fertility·genes·learning·religion·religion gene·religiosity·Richard Dawkins·Robert Rowthorn·Sam Harris·single-nucleotide polymorphisms·SNP·socialization
During an hour long conversation (transcript included), NPR’s Ira Flatow discusses the science of morals with several guests, including Steven Pinker, Sam Harris, and Simon Blackburn. Although I want to be encouraged (and there are many excellent observations), I fear that the “science/morals” debate bears many resemblances to the moribund “science/religion” debate.
Tags:ethics·false dichotomy·Ira Flatow·morals·Sam Harris·science·Steven Pinker·Talk of the Nation·values
Over at HuffPo Religion, Cynthia Boaz has written an earnest piece that implores Americans to think harder about Islam and not simply demonize it. I agree with much of what she says but the unfortunate fact is that her plea will fall on few or deaf ears. Not many religious or political extremists are reading [...]
Tags:authenticity·authorial intent·Christopher Hitchens·Cynthia Boaz·fear·interpretation·interpretive communities·Islam·jahiliyya·jihadist·John Calvert·Koran·madrassa·Milestones·misconceptions about Islam·multiplicities of Islam·Muslims·oppression of women·Pakistan·political extremism·reader response·religions of the book·religious extremism·religious writings·Sam Harris·Saudi Arabia·Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism·singular Islam·Stanley Fish·truth·truths about Islam·violence·zealotry
Over at Slate, Ron Rosenbaum has penned a manifesto for the “new agnosticism,” which he sees as an alternative to credulous theism on the the one hand and strident atheism on the other. Rosenbaum’s position deserves considerable merit and has some appeal, but I am not sure I can agree with him on this definition:
Agnosticism [...]
Tags:agnostic·agnosticism·atheism·certainty·Christopher Hitchens·data·evidence·logic·methodology·nihilism·positivism·reason·Richard Dawkins·Ron Rosenbaum·Sam Harris·skepticism·supernatural agents·supernatural forces·theism·Thomas Henry Huxley·truth
Over at HuffPo Religion, Dr. Rustum Roy — a geochemist — accuses the media of criminal conduct in its reporting of the non-existent war between science and religion. In the course of doing so, Roy tilts at several windmills and claims special authority for “hard” or “classical” science.
Roy begins by touting his credentials as a [...]
Tags:Christopher Hitchens·classical science·cosmology·Daniel Dennett·Darwin·experimental science·facts lab science·geochemistry·hard science·Harvey Whitehouse·Ian Stevenson·Jeanne Achterberg·Jesse Bering·Justin Barrett·Larry Dossey·Nietzsche·Pascal Boyer·placebo·positivism·Richard Dawkins·Rustum Roy·Sam Harris·Scott Atran·shamanic healing·Stephen Hawkins·Stephen Weinberg
The Jehovah’s Witnesses are a fascinating group and highly successful in growing their membership. For those who don’t know much about them, I recommend Rodney Stark’s and Laurence Iannaccone’s article “Why the Jehovah’s Witnesses Grow So Rapidly: A Theoretical Application.” The article contains a concise history of the Witnesses, and then attempts to explain their [...]
Tags:Billy Graham·Christopher Hitchens·Dale Carnegie·Ecce Homo·Jehovah's Witnesses·Joel Meares·Joel Osteen·Laurence Iannaccone·Nathan Heller·Nikos Kazantzakis·Oral Roberts·religious publishing·Richard Dawkins·Rick Warren·Rodney Stark·Sam Harris·The Last Temptation of Christ·The Shack·The Watchtower·William Young
A few months ago, the cognitive archaeologist David Lewis-Williams published Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion. When I saw the title, I worried that perhaps I had been scooped. Now that I have nearly finished the book, my worry has passed. Lewis-Williams’ title is a bit deceiving, given that the book combines [...]
Tags:A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness·altered states of consciousness·cognition·consciousness·David Lewis-Williams·Francis Crick·Gerald Edelman·Merlin Donald·Richard Dawkins·Sam Harris·supernatural thinking·The Conscious Brain·Thomas Nagel·What Is It Like To Be a Bat?
Because most modern religions are constructed around — and concern themselves with — moral or ethical behavior, the common (and mistaken) assumption is that morality and religion are inextricably linked and have always been linked. This simply is not the case. As I discussed in this post, there are many societies — past and present [...]
Tags:ethics·Hammurabi·Lakota·Luther Standing Bear·morality·morals·Phillip Goldberg·prosical·Rig Veda·Sam Harris·Sumerians·Ten Commandments·the Lakota way
