In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905), Max Weber sought to correct or temper Karl Marx’s view that religion was always a reflection or epiphenomenon of the economic base. Although Marx’s understanding of religion was considerably more complicated and drew heavily on Ludwig Feuerbach’s idealist critique in The Essence of Christianity (1841), [...]
Tags:Calvinism·Christianity·evil·Friedrich Nietzsche·good·history of science·India·Iran·Islam·Judaism·Karl Marx·Ludwig Feuerbach·Max Weber·modernity·monotheism·Muslim·Parsis·Persia·profane·Protestant Ethic·Puritans·Robert Kennedy·Robert Merton·Rodney Stark·sacred·spirit of capitalism·truth·Zoroaster·Zoroastrianism
In a recent essay on the cult of David Foster Wallace, Nathan Heller notes that DFW’s mature work deals with the crisis of contemporary pluralism: “how to think intelligently and truthfully about the world when that world is full of intelligent and truthful people who adhere to irreconcilable schools of thought.” While Heller [...]
Tags:Alan Sokal·Catholic·confirmation bias·David Foster Wallace·evolutionary psychologist·fantasy·group level selection·group size·Jesus·language·Matt Rossano·Nathan Heller·natural law·Panglossian·parsimony·pluralism·Pope Benedict·postmodernism·resurrection·science·storytelling·supernatural selection·technology·truth·wish fulfillment
There has been much chatter over the past few weeks about what appears to be a general lack of religious knowledge among Americans. Although I have not seen any surveys or studies from outside the United States, I think it safe to say this ignorance is not limited to America — it most likely is [...]
Tags:brain-mind·Breaking the Spell·curriculum·Daniel Dennett·Diane Winston·hunter-gatherers·metaphysics·neolithic·Paleolithic·Purpose Driven Life·religious ignorance·religious knowledge·religious naturalism·Rick Warren·shamanisms·social construction·supernaturalism·truth·truth correspondence
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
Another nice article in Slate today from William Saletan on memory researcher Dr. Elizabeth Loftus. As has been the case with the previous articles, the most recent entry — “Truth or Consequences?” — is relevant to supernaturalism and religions:
[Dr. Elizabeth Loftus] wrote with dismay of the “horrifying idea that our memories can be changed, inextricably [...]
Tags:brainsoothing·Elizabeth Loftus·false reality·Freud·Future of An Illusion·God's Brain·Lionel Tiger·memories·memory·Michael McGuire·Nietzsche·truth·William Saletan·wish fulfillment
Letter from Friedrich Nietzsche to his sister, Elisabeth Forster Nietzsche (1865):
As for your principle that truth is always on the side of the more difficult, I admit this in part. However, it is difficult to believe that 2 times 2 is not 4; does that make it true? On the other hand, is it really [...]
Over at HuffPo Religion, the evolutionary biologist Michael Zimmerman has posted an article titled “Religion and Science: Respecting the Differences.” Zimmerman argues that science has its domain and boundaries and that religion has its domain and boundaries, and that science should stick to science and religion should stick to religion.
It all sounds measured and reasonable [...]
Tags:appeasement·boundaries·creationism·detente·ecumenical·evolution·intelligent design·Michael Zimmerman·positivism·positivist·religion·science·truth
Today’s New York Times reports that Francisco Ayala, “a biologist and former Roman Catholic priest whose books and speeches offer reassurance that there is no essential contradiction between religious faith and belief in science, particularly the theory of evolution,” has won the $1.5 million Templeton Award given to someone makes “exceptional contributions to affirming life’s [...]
Tags:non-overlapping magisteria·positivism·science versus religion·truth
