Logic in Arguments About Atheism II

“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.” —Werner Heisenberg As a follow up to the last reflection, I wished to delve a little bit deeper in the question of evidence. How do we recognise evidence…

Logic in arguments about atheism

Part II is here. “A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.” —Lord Francis Bacon of Verulam How can Bacon make such a statement without insulting the intelligence of the likes of Sartre, Camus, Hume, Engel, John Stuart Mill, Nietzsche, John Rawls, Bertrand Russell? Indeed,…

Correspondences: On dualism and its opposite

Dear C. You had inquired about “non-dualism.” I think it can be helpful, in the first place, to designate a number of referents for “dualism” so then we can attempt to grasp what is being rejected. Three meanings of dualism that come to mind are(1) epistemological (i.e. subject-object bifurcation),(2) philosophical-metaphysical (e.g. Cartesian),and (3) moral-metaphysical (i.e….

Poem: “You, lark of the morning”

You, lark of the morningSee how the night descendsThe time has come to fold your wingsAnd let the darkness take you inAnd caress you in its soft embraceFor your voice grows tired,Your face shows sadnessAnd your eyes can’t hideThe weight that’s in your heart,And heaviness has hunger for what lies below. So do not resist,But…

Correspondences: On Realism, Magical Realism, and Psychedelics

Dear M., I have made it about half-way through your dissertation. Obviously, the scope of your thesis encompasses a great deal more than I could intelligently comment on. As I have been reading through it though, I am struck by a question about what the actual difference between (1) Magical realism and (2) Realism as…

Poem: “And is that not the carpenter’s son?”

And is that not the carpenter’s son?Who wends his way through golden fieldsFields of light and morning flameBeset by smoke and whirling ashesOn his way to whence he cameI feel the time is running out,Tides of fire are sweeping inSoon they’ll come to throw us outSoon they’ll come to do us inBut every flower tells…

Correspondences: On Trust and Knowledge

My dear C,  You said a person should never just believe another, and I know this is true. I believe what you say is true, but I do not believe it is true because you say it. Instead, you say it because it is true, and when you say it, your words invite me to…

Correspondences: On Corona and Causality, and on Conspiracy, Censorship and Critical Thinking

Dear L. I think it is safe to say that most people assume that the Corona pandemic is the cause of the fear that is so rampant. But I think that this might be a naïve view of the matter. Instead, it seems like the virus and the fear of the virus are concomitant at…

On Adam & Eve II

Please find another exploration of this topic here. Do you see how it says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”? This is ambiguous even in Hebrew since it might very well mean that Man was made in the image…

Poem: “How is it we can smile…”

How is it we can smile and knowThat somewhere children cry?How can we live and knowThat everyone we ever meet will die?In Spring the flowers growWhen Autumn comes they dieThe Winter passes, lo!For I again the flowers spyThe same as yesteryear’s!Which one is the soul:The flowers that dieOr the power that ever reappears?