Reading Time: < 1 minute Whilst we are on the subject of free will and human behaviour, here is a podcast involving two of my favourite thinkers/authors: Robert Sapolsky and Sean Carroll. Sapolsky’s Behave [UK] and Carroll’s The Big Picture [UK] are well worth getting. Stay in touch! Like A Tippling Philosopher on Facebook: A Tippling Philosopher You can also buy me a […]
Sean Carroll
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Afterlife: When the Science Spoke At Last to Me
Reading Time: 7 minutes Hi and welcome back! Yesterday, I noted that I struggled mightily with my belief in some sort of afterlife. Today, I want to show you what happened as I slowly began coming to grips with mortality. Plunging Into Science. During that time, 2013-2015, I was devouring a lot of science about the brain — and […]
Posted inMeaning & Purpose, Philosophy
Sean Carroll on His Poetic Naturalism
Reading Time: < 1 minute I previously introduced you to Sean Carroll’s Poetic Naturalism, which I see as a naturalistic worldview entailing conceptual nominalism. Here are a few videos to explain his position: Poetic naturalism: The meaning of life: Purpose: Stay in touch! Like A Tippling Philosopher on Facebook: A Tippling Philosopher You can also buy me a cuppa. […]
Posted inPhilosophy
Poetic Naturalism
Reading Time: 3 minutes I am a big fan of Sean Carroll for a whole host of reasons, but recently because of his book The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself (UK), which, if you know my philosophical positions on big ideas and my endless deference to conceptual nominalism, is a whole thesis defending this philosophy. […]
Posted inScience
Sean Carroll, the Multiverse and Fine-Tuning
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sean Carroll’s excellent book The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself contains some great segments and thoughts. This excerpt, from a section on fine-tuning, is no exception. It talks about how the multiverse is not some kind of ad hoc theory that seeks to plug a problematic hole, but a theory […]
Posted inPhilosophy, Science
Is Falsification An Essential Part of Science?
Reading Time: 3 minutes I was inspired by a recent video by Sixty Symbols, a physics YouTube channel ran by Brady Haran, who also runs other popular educational channels like Numberphile and Periodic Videos. In this video, Brady talks to Nottingham University physicist Philip Moriarty about the nature of the scientific method. Moriarty casts doubt upon any one “scientific […]
Posted inPhilosophy
Sean Carroll’s Poetic Naturalism
Reading Time: 3 minutes I have just started reading Sean Carroll’s The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself, which is shaping up to be a great book. I would like to just talk about this excerpt (Location 345, Kindle): The strategy I’m advocating here can be called poetic naturalism. The poet Muriel Rukeyser once wrote, […]
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William Lane Craig is either lying, or getting things very wrong!
Reading Time: 8 minutes I thought this might be worth posting again: William Lane Craig is ubiquitous in conversations about theistic and Christian apologetics. Being the foremost modern philosopher/theologian still operating, he is often called upon or used as a source for theistic and Christian arguments, winning many debates in the process (on technique and rhetoric, in the main). […]
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Death Is Not Final Debate – Sean Carroll, Steven Novella vs Eben Alexander, R Moody
Reading Time: < 1 minute Some commenters, on the two threads on Near-Death Experiences, have mentioned Eben Alexander and how good his book is etc. Firstly, they need to read the robust repsonses: Sam Harris – This must be heaven Esquire – The Prophet Why Evolution is True – Eben Alexander’s bogus trip to heaven The Wire / The Atlantic – The ‘Proof […]
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The Handbook: Why Arguments Aren’t Evidence.
Reading Time: 11 minutes We’ve talked before on this blog about what evidence looks like, and I don’t feel like I have much to add on that particular topic than I wrote last year. But today we’re going to talk specifically about why an argument alone should not constitute compelling evidence for the supernatural claims of Christians, how to spot someone using an argument in lieu of evidence, and how to short-circuit the tactic.