Recent Responses
We are a Muslim couple and it's now 5 years and we don't have childrens. Doctors said that my wife is not having eggs to produce although she is only 32 years old. There is only way to take the eggs from another lady. Please tell me that is it ok or it will be a sin. The answer from the doctors is the final that she will never be able to produce her own eggs so this is the only option for ivf..... Please help me. Rashid
Peter S. Fosl
June 17, 2008
(changed June 17, 2008)
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Whether and how to have a child is one of the most intimate and personal matters of life, whatever one's religion. So, ultimately you must make the decision as to what is most fitting for you. I cannot write as a Muslim or as one expert in Muslim theology. As a philosopher, however, I can say... Read more
Why do philosophers consider their memory and perception as a valid source of knowledge but not their intuition? Aren't memory, perception and intuition (pre)processed/coloured by the same unconscious processes before we get aware of it? Kobe
Peter S. Fosl
June 17, 2008
(changed June 17, 2008)
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A very good question. At first blush philosophers' practices might seem arbitrary, indeed. There are a number of considerations, however, that might help those practices seem more sensible to you. First off, it's important to define the concept of "intuition". You might be surprised to learn... Read more
Hello, my name is Todd and I wanted to ask you a question: Do you feel/think that "Occam's Razor" is relevant and appropriately applicable when deciding whether or not to believe in a divine being, i.e. god (in the traditional western conception)? For example, I feel that the simplest explanation is that there is no god, rather than to make positive claims about something that exists. Thanks, Todd
Andrew N. Carpenter
June 16, 2008
(changed June 16, 2008)
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I agree with Oliver that Occam's razor is not an "especiallypriviliged" principle in this or other contexts, but I also agree withPeter that it nonetheless is perfectly appopriate to use this principlewhen thinking about whether God exists.
Whether or not you willultimately find Occam's ra... Read more
Hello, my name is Todd and I wanted to ask you a question: Do you feel/think that "Occam's Razor" is relevant and appropriately applicable when deciding whether or not to believe in a divine being, i.e. god (in the traditional western conception)? For example, I feel that the simplest explanation is that there is no god, rather than to make positive claims about something that exists. Thanks, Todd
Andrew N. Carpenter
June 16, 2008
(changed June 16, 2008)
Permalink
I agree with Oliver that Occam's razor is not an "especiallypriviliged" principle in this or other contexts, but I also agree withPeter that it nonetheless is perfectly appopriate to use this principlewhen thinking about whether God exists.
Whether or not you willultimately find Occam's ra... Read more
My husband and I are agnostic. His ex-wife is Christian. His children (ages 7 and 11) go to church with their mother and very religious stepfather. She has told them that she divorced their father because he wasn't Christian and that it's not okay to not be Christian (she left out the part about her adultery, but I digress). They have learned in church that all non-Christians go to hell and are not loved or forgiven by God. We found a worksheet from church with a list: Christian/Non-Christian. Under the Christian list, there was a glistening gold heart. Under the Non-Christian list, a flat black heart. Under each was a list describing the wonderful things that happen to Christians and the horrible things that happen to Non-Christians. You get the picture. The oldest son believes that my husband's grandmother, his great-grandmother, will go to hell when she dies because she is Jewish. They have been told not to question the Bible (or their church's interpretation of the Bible) because they are too young to know God. While I do not agree that children should be manipulated in this way, it is clear that their mother will not be changing churches. I'm afraid she may also use my husband's non-Christianity as leverage with regard to the boys. She gets to be good while her ex-husband is evil. My husband and I would like to teach the boys and my daughter about many religions and cultures, but the boys have been taught that anyone who tries to take you away from Jesus is evil and sent by Satan to throw you off course. Any time my husband tries to talk about it with the oldest, he gets quiet and ends the conversation. I always imagined I would let the children decide after they were well informed about many spiritual options and given the whole truth about Christianity's role in history. Would it be best for us to ignore the topic of religion with the boys, at least until they are old enough to make their own decisions? Should we take our chances and expose them to different religions (and atheism)?
Peter Smith
June 14, 2008
(changed June 14, 2008)
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"In some ways one might welcome the fact that they are being brought up by one parent in such an unusual and distinct manner, as compared with the majority of their peers." Oh, really? I think not. The kids are being subject to child abuse of a rather nasty kind (how else should we describe telling... Read more
My husband and I are agnostic. His ex-wife is Christian. His children (ages 7 and 11) go to church with their mother and very religious stepfather. She has told them that she divorced their father because he wasn't Christian and that it's not okay to not be Christian (she left out the part about her adultery, but I digress). They have learned in church that all non-Christians go to hell and are not loved or forgiven by God. We found a worksheet from church with a list: Christian/Non-Christian. Under the Christian list, there was a glistening gold heart. Under the Non-Christian list, a flat black heart. Under each was a list describing the wonderful things that happen to Christians and the horrible things that happen to Non-Christians. You get the picture. The oldest son believes that my husband's grandmother, his great-grandmother, will go to hell when she dies because she is Jewish. They have been told not to question the Bible (or their church's interpretation of the Bible) because they are too young to know God. While I do not agree that children should be manipulated in this way, it is clear that their mother will not be changing churches. I'm afraid she may also use my husband's non-Christianity as leverage with regard to the boys. She gets to be good while her ex-husband is evil. My husband and I would like to teach the boys and my daughter about many religions and cultures, but the boys have been taught that anyone who tries to take you away from Jesus is evil and sent by Satan to throw you off course. Any time my husband tries to talk about it with the oldest, he gets quiet and ends the conversation. I always imagined I would let the children decide after they were well informed about many spiritual options and given the whole truth about Christianity's role in history. Would it be best for us to ignore the topic of religion with the boys, at least until they are old enough to make their own decisions? Should we take our chances and expose them to different religions (and atheism)?
Peter Smith
June 14, 2008
(changed June 14, 2008)
Permalink
"In some ways one might welcome the fact that they are being brought up by one parent in such an unusual and distinct manner, as compared with the majority of their peers." Oh, really? I think not. The kids are being subject to child abuse of a rather nasty kind (how else should we describe telling... Read more
Hello, my name is Todd and I wanted to ask you a question: Do you feel/think that "Occam's Razor" is relevant and appropriately applicable when deciding whether or not to believe in a divine being, i.e. god (in the traditional western conception)? For example, I feel that the simplest explanation is that there is no god, rather than to make positive claims about something that exists. Thanks, Todd
Andrew N. Carpenter
June 16, 2008
(changed June 16, 2008)
Permalink
I agree with Oliver that Occam's razor is not an "especiallypriviliged" principle in this or other contexts, but I also agree withPeter that it nonetheless is perfectly appopriate to use this principlewhen thinking about whether God exists.
Whether or not you willultimately find Occam's ra... Read more
Let's say arguments for Intelligent Design are correct. So what? The inference from apparent order in nature to the existence of a Creator is theoretically interesting, however this doesn't bear on the vast majority of beliefs, practices and norms which actually make up religion. (A Creator exists! But is he Zeus or Allah or Yahweh? Is the Bible his word? Does he want us to eat pork or not?) In the end, what significance can teleological arguments really have for a religious person?
Louise Antony
June 12, 2008
(changed June 12, 2008)
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You ask an excellent question. I think that your suspicion is correct; that an argument that shows merely that the universe had a designer does not show enough about the nature of the designer to warrant belief in any particular theological system. But I don’t think that many theologians would... Read more
I feel a very great love for someone, but I'm not sure what kind of love it is, and I'm worried that it might be the wrong kind of love. It has agapic elements in the sense that I want to do good for the person, but it is also rather erotic. Do you have any clear sense of whether there are any necessary and sufficient conditions by means of which I may decide this issue once and for all? Many thanks.
Gloria Origgi
June 12, 2008
(changed June 12, 2008)
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You shouldn't be committed to the classical distinction between Eros, Agape and Philia. These three forms of love are very often intertwined. You seem to oppose agape, an uninterested feeling of caring for the good of the other, to the erotic attraction. But what if your erotic feelings are good... Read more
Does the great size of the population give me an out, since my contribution, say one in 150,000,000, is neither here nor there, when it comes to,say, voting, recycling garbage, paying taxes? Of course, if "everybody did it", it would be a problem. But everybody, in fact, isn't doing it, so there is no actual problem. My failure to co-operate has a minimal impact. And, my keeping quiet about my non-co-operation further minimizes the minimal impact.
Thomas Pogge
June 12, 2008
(changed June 12, 2008)
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Suppose that by mailing in a postcard you could get a 1 in 10 chance to direct $10,000 to a good cause: an orphenage, say, or a promising development project in Africa. Would you mail the postcard? I suppose you would. You would say that a 1 in 10 chance of $10,000 is worth about as much as $1000... Read more