Category: Reason and Rationality
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Ray Monk on Frege, Russell, Patriotism and Prejudice
Excerpt: The single thing I can imagine Russell finding most shocking would be Frege’s endorsement of patriotism as an unreasoning prejudice. The absence of political insight characteristic of his times, Frege says, is due to “a complete lack of patriotism.” He acknowledges that patriotism involves prejudice rather than impartial thought, but he thinks that is…
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Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and the Will to Believe
My friend, I continue to read and reread your Heaven and Hell essay, especially the "Concluding Existential-Practical Postscript". Psalm 23. "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not…." Let us pray that there is a Good Shepherd who cares deeply about his flock and will do things to relieve their suffering. Can we come…
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The Presuppositionalist Challenge to My Position
Substack latest. Do not comment unless you have carefully read the entire article.
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A Design Argument from the Cognitive Reliability of Our Senses: A Proof of Classical Theism?
Substack latest. I present an argument that many will take as supporting classical theism. But I point out that, so taken, the argument is not rationally inescapable or philosophically dispositive since it may also be construed along Nagelian lines to support an inherent immanent teleology in nature. Topics include rationality, intentionality, both intrinsic and…
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Memo to Zennists
You can't get beyond the discursive intellect until you get to it.
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How Reasonable is it to Rely on Reason Alone?
A Substack meditation on the occasion of Edith Stein's feast day. August 9th is the feast day of St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross in the Catholic liturgy. She is better known to philosophers as Edith Stein (1891-1942), brilliant Jewish student of and assistant to Edmund Husserl, philosopher in her own right, Roman Catholic convert,…
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A Design Argument From the Cognitive Reliability of Our Senses: A Proof of Classical Theism?
You are out hiking and the trail becomes faint and hard to follow. You peer into the distance and see what appear to be three stacked rocks. Looking a bit farther, you see another such stack. Now you are confident which way the trail goes. Your confidence is based on your taking the rock piles…
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Assuming that God exists, could the atheist’s denial of God be reasonable?
I say Yes to the title question; Greg Bahnsen, glossing Cornelius Van Til, says No. Yet it should be clear even to the atheist that if the Christian God exists, it is 'reasonable' to believe in him. (Greg L. Bahnsen, Van Til's Apologetic: Readings and Analysis, P & R Publishing, 1998, p. 124, fn. 108,…
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Is Belief in God Rationally Required? Response to a Critic
S. L. writes, I will just tell you three quick things about myself in an effort to get your kind response to my question. 1. I am a 70-year-old "evangelical", conservative (in every way), protestant, Christian believer. I put evangelical in quotes because I don't subscribe to all ideas that fit under the rubric of…
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No Person is Illegal!
That's true. No person is illegal. But who ever said that any person was? 'Woke' knuckleheads of the sort who recently criticized Joey B's SOTU reference to Lincoln Laken Riley's murderer as 'an illegal' regularly give something like the following lame argument: 1) No person is illegal. 2) If any person is justifiably labelled an…
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Is it Ever Legitimate to Question Motives?
Of course it is. If it weren't I wouldn't do it! You must question the motives of those who give worthless arguments. A very short Stack topper.
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Political Argumentation and Political Evolution
Top o' the Stack. Written in May 2016 but still relevant. I defend the cogency of the 'Hillary is worse' defense of Donald Trump against Charles Murray. In the January 2004 post scriptum I concede that the impressive 'Jacques,' an untenured Canadian philosopher whose name I cannot reveal because of vicious leftists such as Brian…
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Is it Rational to be Politically Ignorant?
I consider the question in today's Substack entry.
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Is the Enlightenment the Problem?
This is a redacted repost from 21 June 2015. In the subsequent eight years, we in the West are 'infinitely' worse off than before. Time to re-visit the topic and re-assess. Mournful was the tocsin Malcolm Pollack sounded in 2015; what must its sound be today? ……………………….. Malcolm laments via e-mail: Don't things seem to…