thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
November 17th, 2015
I’m not sure if I was a normal boy, but I always loved maps. So one of my favourite books was the Oxford University World Atlas. I loved it because of the diversity of its maps – it even included details on the solar system (I loved astronomy too!) and the exploration of Australia by […]
November 4th, 2015
The purpose of science and philosophy is to explain difficult facts. If our current philosophy or science cannot explain some facts, we consider a new hypothesis or vary the current hypothesis. But one aspect of reality is proving impossible to reconcile with current science and philosophy, which creates tensions.
October 28th, 2015
Philosopher Daniel Dennett used the metaphor of cranes and skyhooks to contrast different ways of arriving at knowledge, whether in science or in philosophy. Skyhooks are approaches that require a jump from what we know (science) to some explanation that isn’t science-based (like God). He argued that we should only use approaches that build from […]
October 19th, 2015
Are we alone in the cosmos? Or are there other, perhaps many other, intelligent life forms out there? An associated question is whether earth is unique, or whether there are many other planets that could support life. This is a scientific question, but also has importance (for some people) for the question of the existence […]
October 14th, 2015
Victor Reppert is a philosopher. His book, CS Lewis’s Dangerous Idea discusses the theistic argument from reason. His blog, Dangerous Idea has long been a source of information and ideas for me, and many others. Recently he responded to the argument that there is no evidence for God, and summarised his reasons for believing in […]
October 7th, 2015
Sick people generally want to get better, and doctors work for that result. If there’s any way to improve the odds of recovery, then both doctors and patients want to know. Modern medicine can do amazing things, and the human body has amazing recuperative powers. But sometimes more is needed. Sometimes people ask God for […]
September 27th, 2015
In a recent internet discussion of fine tuning, I was referred to a 2014 debate between Sean Carroll and William Lane Craig, where Carroll made a number of criticisms of the fine-tuning argument used by Craig. He also included some other statements he regarded as showing that the universe looks like one NOT created by […]
September 21st, 2015
A lot of books have been written about Jesus. It’s not really surprising. An obscure boy from nowhere becomes perhaps the most influential person who ever lived. A third of the world believes he was divine. And so the books keep rolling off the presses – or off the keyboards these days when anyone can […]
September 8th, 2015
Last post I presented evidence that indicates that the scientific evidence shows that the universe is indeed “fine-tuned” – i.e. of all the possible universes allowed by theoretical physics, very, very few would have allowed life to evolve. This post I consider objections to using this scientific evidence to argue that God exists.
August 30th, 2015
The science of fine-tuning is summed up in this statement: of all the possible universes allowed by theoretical physics, an extremely small number would allow the evolution of intelligent life. Very few cosmologists seem to contest this statement, and Luke Barnes names more than 20 of the best who support it. Yet it is common […]
A list of all blog posts, in reverse chronological order, is on the Blog archive page.