Keith Parsons's Blog, page 68

Response to Taner

Taner, Thanks for the long post and the many insightful points and queries. Since Aristotle is the founder of naturalized ethics, it is really important that we get him right. Aristotle does not base his ethics upon "human nature," but what he calls "the human function." (Sorry, I don't know the Greek) The human function comprises the way of living for which nature

It worked for Aquinas, but would it work for us?

I want to pull something Keith Parsons just said from out of the comments, since it ties in nicely with some questions prompted by one of the books I'm currently reading. Keith said:
. . . collapsing the fact/value distinction does not need neuroscience; it goes back to Aristotle. Really, the idea that there is a fact/value dichotomy has only become entrenched in ethics since Hume's "discovery"

America's Clairvoyant Founders

All too often, I succumb to the temptation to think that America's Founding Fathers (peace be upon them) were merely human. I entertain heretical thoughts, such as our Holy Constitution being a superannuated eighteenth century relic. In my darkness of unbelief, I imagine that important parts of the Holy Constitution are structurally antidemocratic, and I sometimes even suspect that document may

What is wrong with Sam Harris

I regularly gripe about Sam Harris here. When I've had more lengthy pieces to write, I've written against his ignorant approach to Islam, and expressed ambivalence about those aspects of the "New Atheism" associated with Harris.

But if I'm going to keep griping, it might not be a bad idea to rehash specifically why I think the popularity of Harris should be embarrassing for nonbelievers. This

Lears reviews Harris

Historian Jackson Lears has a damning review of all Sam Harris's books in The Nation magazine: "Same Old New Atheism: On Sam Harris."

It's not a perfect takedown. Lears can't resist reaching into the liberal religious apologetic bag of tricks (oh, he's not addressing real religion, which is the more sophisticated and more experiential stuff), plus indulges in traditional humanities-based

30-cubit-tall Adam

I used to have a principle not to be overly discouraged about any insanity I might observe in the US. After all, something similar but worse was bound to have taken place in Turkey. I could then be happy I didn't live there.

With the increasingly entrenched right-wing nature of US public life over the past couple of decades, I can't hold this principle consistently anymore. We now routinely do

Probabilities and Ultimate Posits

Victor Reppert has a short essay on his Dangerous Idea blog on the use of probability arguments in the philosophy of religion. Here I would like to offer my own take on the question. A principle often invoked by theists making probability arguments is what Robin Collins calls the "prime principle of confirmation (PPC)," which he defines as follows: Simply put, the principle says that

Rupture, er, Rapture May 21

A little comic relief from all the heavy-duty philosophizing on this site. This is one of the more amusing of these types of stories:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wor... sinners have only a few days to mend your ways if you don't want to be left behind! I enjoyed the idea that God sent the gay

Understanding Our Differences (Maybe)

I hesitate to respond to Victor Reppert's latest riposte (April 19) on his Dangerous Idea blog, since BDK and others have already hashed it out with considerable sophistication and subtlety. My aim here, however, is not to refute Victor (knockdown refutations in philosophy occupy a shadowy ontological niche somewhere between very rare and nonexistent), but to understand as clearly as possible

Darwish talk

Last night Nonie Darwish, one of the favorite ex-Muslims of Fox News, visited campus.

She gave a strange talk. Part of was sensible enough, such as the bits where she pointed out the seriously illiberal aspects of Islamic law, with examples of everyday atrocities from countries where sharia has significant influence on laws and policies. (An example she gave about Turkish law, however, was