While I agree with Eric Steinhart’s claims that atheists need to take metaphysics seriously and while I would be open to considering evolutionary models for answering metaphysical, ethical, and cosmological questions if they are promising, below I am going to briefly surmise several serious reservations I have to Eric’s suggestions that we ditch the term [...]
I always hate to be called an atheist – it characterizes me in terms of what I don’t believe, rather than in terms of what I do believe. And that sucks. Worse, the label itself seems purely negative: ok, so there’s no God, but what is there? And worst of all, the label comes with [...]
The philosophy journal Synthese has become embroiled in a controversy regarding a special issue entitled “Evolution and its Rivals”. The chief editors of the journal have behaved in ways which have struck many philosophers as inappropriate. You can learn more about the controversy at the Leiter Report. If you’re an academic, you may wish to [...]
A really nice rundown from Neil deGrasse Tyson: Your Thoughts?
The thoughts of Gregory W. Lester (as edited down by John W. Loftus) (okay, now I feel like calling myself Daniel W. Fincke): Because senses and beliefs are both tools for survival and have evolved to augment one another, our brain considers them to be separate but equally important purveyors of survival information….This means that [...]
Last Christmas Eve, I argued that the belief that God “guided evolution” was not a rationally respectable way to reconcile science with faith but rather it was essentially an effective denial of the theory of natural selection, in its scientifically explanatory sense. Part of the revolutionary character of the discovery of evolution by natural selection [...]
Fantastic, insightful, and intuitively correct stuff about why we bother to use innuendos and other forms of indirect language where the literal meaning of what we are saying is undisguisedly clear: Thanks to Shane. Your Thoughts?
In case you missed any of the material I gathered together for today, here’s the full rundown of posts: How Belief In “Theistic Evolution” Is Nearly As Much A Denial Of Science As Creationism Qualia Soup Lays Out The Basics Of Evolution Darwin’s Birthdaily Hilarity: Creationism Darwin’s Birthdaily Hilarity: People Are Not Animals! (and evolution [...]
I have been chastened. Next year: no Darwin Day posts. Your Thoughts?
From today through March 12, you can screen Kansas vs. Darwin. Description of the film: Even before they took place, the 2005 Kansas school board hearings on evolution were recognized as a pivotal battle in America’s ongoing war over teaching evolution in the public schools. Organized by believers in Intelligent Design and convened by creationists, [...]
BBC Radio 4 ran readings of Beagle’s Diary as its Book of the Week in December 2006. Here are all five episodes: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, and Episode 5. A description of the book from The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online: The Beagle Diary is read by Jo Stone-Fewings. Each episode is introduced by historian [...]
A really well made music video for their otherwise mediocre song “Evolution”: Your Thoughts?
A couple of months ago I profiled a spectacular video in which Qualia Soup succinctly, clearly, and precisely debunked the creationist argument that within organisms there are designs which are so irreducibly complex that they could not have evolved but must have been intelligently designed. In reply to that video came criticisms from creationists and [...]
Of course I disagree, but I’m sure glad he thinks so and hope more Muslims do too. Your Thoughts?
This is a terrific video in which Dennett and Dawkins get further into the weeds discussing the dynamics of evolution, responsibility, how you can make living things out of dead stuff and conscious ones out of unconscious ones, the wonder of natural processes, the idea that we have souls—but they’re made of neurons, and many [...]
Darwin’s “little heresy”: Thanks to Meko. Your Thoughts?
Are there any such things? Is there any legitimate reason to talk about “missing links” when it is a term beloved by creationists and used to spread misunderstanding about evolution? Greg Laden has an interesting, very long, post all about whether or how we should use this term. Your Thoughts?
Thanks to Tony for the heads up. Your Thoughts?
A great video: Your Thoughts?
A simulation addressing Paley’s watch argument by demonstrating that if the components watches are made of had the same basic properties that the components of organic beings have, then they could have evolved just as well: Thanks to Eric for the find. Your Thoughts?
Beautiful speeches from Inherit the Wind are here and here. I’m pretty sure this film would be too controversial to shoot and release to mainstream audiences with this script in America today. Your Thoughts?
Edward Current makes the case: Your Thoughts?