Archive for the ‘Philosophy’ Category

The Power of Twilight

A few weeks ago, millions rejoiced as the first trailer for New Moon, the second book-turned-film in the Twilight saga, premiered at the MTV Movie Awards. These wildly successful books continue to draw a loyal following that rivals that of Harry Potter. This is remarkable when one considers how counter-cultural...
July 1st, 2009 | Book Reviews, Culture, Ethics, Film, Philosophy | Read More

“I Care that I don’t Care”: Post-postmodernism in ‘Wilco (The Album)’

“Meh. …I wish I didn’t mean that.” Welcome to post-postmodernism, a new reaction to believing in epistemic tragedy: that is, that nothing can be known-for-certain. In the period loosely described as post-modernity, men like Foucault and Nietzsche asserted that timeless, absolute knowledge was...
May 26th, 2009 | Culture, Music, Worldviews | Read More

On the Importance of Advancing Liberty and Free Markets

My good friend Julia Kiewit recently submitted the following to a fellowship. I thought it was a concise, accurate view of the relationship between liberty and free markets. There is much more that could be said about liberty and free markets, especially with regards religions place in relation to...
March 20th, 2009 | Economy, Philosophy | Read More

How to Argue Like Jesus - by Joe Carter and John Coleman

Joe has written a book! How to Argue like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History’s Greatest Communicator by Joe Carter and John Coleman Joe sent me a note about the book in which he said: “Argue Like Jesus, which was written for both Christians and non-believers, uses Jesus as a model...
January 6th, 2009 | Logic & Rhetoric, Other Religions | Read More

Who killed Shatner?

Have you ever seen a literary character eclipse an author? Take Captain Kirk, for example: though he is only a fictional character, he’s much more frequently remembered than his creator, Gene Roddenberry. Nearly everyone recognizes Kirk, but not everyone knows who Roddenberry was. And when’s...
November 17th, 2008 | Philosophy | Read More

Plato blogging: The Phaedo

Thanks to projects like archive.org, this post will probably still be online when you are dead. Weird, huh? In the beginning of Plato’s Phaedo Phaedo describes to Echectrates the conversation Socrates had with his friends in his prison cell while he awaited execution. Phaedo, who was present for...
November 12th, 2008 | Philosophy | Read More

“Equality for All”: The Road We Ought Not Tread

Categories can be useful. Most people seem to realize this: tax brackets, biological taxonomy, or fantasy football statistics disappearing seems unlikely. Every day, every moment of our lives, we both consciously and unknowingly sift and sort through senses and thoughts, placing them into folders to...
October 28th, 2008 | Philosophy, Politics | Read More

Evangelicals and Liquor Laws: Letting Adults Choose To Drink

By John Mark Reynolds College presidents are not always wrong. Here is one they get right: Americans should rethink our polices toward alcohol and young adults. Eighteen year old adults should have the legal choice to drink in this culture. College faculty and administrators know that thousands of...
August 27th, 2008 | Culture, Moral Philosophy, Religion | Read More

The Very Persistent Illusion:
Absurd and Amusing Rationalizations About Free Will

[Note: I'm taking a brief vacation. Regular blogging will resume on July 21.] Last year while discussing bioethics with fellow blogger Jim Smalls, I expressed my disgust and dismay about ethicist Peter Singer. How could anyone with his intellect, I wondered, hold such bizarre and ridiculous beliefs?...
July 8th, 2008 | Philosophy | Read More

Do Tummy Aches Disprove God?

My tummy hurts. Ergo, there is no god. This argument may be absurd but it is not intended as a reductio ad absurdum. Although a very simplistic form, this enthymeme encapsulates one of the primary atheological arguments — the argument from evil. The structure of the argument becomes more obvious...
July 1st, 2008 | Apologetics, Worldviews | Read More