Category: Archive

The popularity of modern naturalism relies on conflating a method with a metaphysics. The dazzling success of science is used to blind us to the naturalists hidden philosophical assumptions. Once those assumptions are exposed, metaphysical naturalism is revealed not as the most rational world view, but the dogmatic prejudice of the modern world. What is…… Continue reading Naturalism’s Dilemma: False or Meaningless? Pick one.

Exposing the illusion of the material world. The term black hole is a misnomer. A black hole isn’t empty space, it’s the opposite. It’s a region of space so dense even light can’t escape its boundary. When viewed from the outside the space appears to be empty, because a black hole swallows everything, even light.…… Continue reading The Universe is a Spiritual Black Hole

The harmonious outlook of religious pluralism. There is a wide diversity of religious claims and practices. Conceptions of the divine range from the God of Abraham to Hinduism’s impersonal Brahman. This diversity exists between religions and within religions. Many of the different claims seem contradictory. Some people think this means only one religion can be…… Continue reading Can all the Different Religions be True?

 It’s become fashionable to say atheism has no burden of proof. It’s said atheism is the default assumption and the onus is on the theist to prove, not on the atheist to disprove. While this idea has the superficial gloss of rationality, under a critical cross-examination it falls apart. Rather than promoting rational methods, it…… Continue reading The Presumption of Atheism on Trial

Exposing the skeptics linguistic sleight of hand. You can’t travel far on the internet without hearing someone chanting the mantra: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It’s often assumed that merely reciting the incantation is sufficient to reject any idea its power is aimed at. The saying was popularized in Carl Sagan’s 1979 book Broca’s Brain in reference to…… Continue reading Do Extraordinary Claims Need Extraordinary Evidence?

Why our ideas of human progress could destroy us. In the modern world, our civilization has a story. It conveys our vision of who we are, the expression of our self-image. There are many versions of the story, but they all have a similar theme of progress. Our stories of progress permeate our culture. The…… Continue reading The Invisible Mythology of our Modern World

A philosophical principle to help you avoid bigotry and dogmatism. The Principle of Charity is a fancy way of saying we should be open minded and reasonable. It’s a method used in philosophy to avoid bigotry and dogmatism. If we’re mindful of this principle, it helps us assess every viewpoint — including our own —…… Continue reading How to Practice Intellectual Charity

What is metaphysics and why is it important? When most people hear the word metaphysics they think of mystical things like ghosts, auras, and supernatural beings. It’s a logical way to interpret the meaning of the word. Meta means beyond and physics means physical stuff. We naturally think of immaterial things. But this is almost…… Continue reading Metaphysics — Mysticism for the Intellect

There is a common and persistent misunderstanding about the difference in meaning between the words God and god. Many people fail to distinguish between them as if the only thing at stake was the correct capitalization of words. But this transcends mere grammar. The meaning of the word God is as different from gods as…… Continue reading God vs gods – Is the difference only capitalisation?

The idea we can neatly divide the world into the natural and the supernatural is a distinctively modern way of thinking. Many people take it for granted the supernatural exists only as a vestigial belief, a cognitive echo of the superstitions of our primitive ancestors. It’s commonly thought that as scientific knowledge advances, it’s proving…… Continue reading Naturalism’s Folly – How a method morphed into a metaphysics