Category Archives: Naturalism

Two Types of Atheism

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Dwight

There are in general two types of atheism. atheism from burden-of-proof skepticism atheism from natural worldview (naturalism that entails atheism) 20th century atheism was almost entirely the former. The 20th century champion of atheism from skepticism was Antony Flew. The … Continue reading →

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Coherence of Naturalism

Posted on December 8, 2024 by Dwight

One of the fundamental “facts” about existence we all experience is that physics trumps sentience. As a consequence, physics trumps goodness, trumps morality.  A single example should suffice. When a murderer points his gun at a saint and pulls the … Continue reading →

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Skepticism, Pragmatism and Empiricism

Posted on December 4, 2024 by Dwight

From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Pragmatism… Richard Rorty (1931–2007) turned consciously to pragmatism to rectify what he saw as mainstream epistemology’s crucial mistake: naively conceiving of language and thought as ‘mirroring’ the world. Rorty’s bold and iconoclastic … Continue reading →

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Mind-Stuff

Posted on December 4, 2024 by Dwight

Summary: Mind-stuff refers to sensations and meanings (which are also sensations) produced using (probably) reference frames stored in the cerebral cortex/neocortex. How does mind-stuff relate to the world? Our thoughts and feelings, our sensations and memories, are the only medium … Continue reading →

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Are Mountains Real?

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Dwight

[Post at Preface to Atheism, Apr 27, 2024.] When philosophers ask if something is real, they mean: Does it exist independently of our thoughts? Whose thoughts, exactly? Well, generally, human thoughts. Our in this context means us as a species. … Continue reading →

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Elon Musk is bad at math

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Dwight

[Post at Preface to Atheism, Apr 11, 2024] Is Elon Musk bad at mathematics? The suggestion may not shock readers who remember him foolishly paying $44 billion for Twitter (now X). For that I give him a pass. He wanted … Continue reading →

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Defining Naturalism the Right Way

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Dwight

[Post at Preface to Atheism, Feb 19, 2024. I should probably have titled it “Defining Naturalism the Best Way.”] In a previous post, “What is Naturalism?”, I quoted William H Halverson’s A Concise Introduction to Philosophy, Fourth Edition, 1981 (Random … Continue reading →

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Roundess & What is Real

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Dwight

[Post at Preface to Atheism, Sept 16, 2023.] It’s natural to assume that what we see when we open our eyes is what the world looks like, that we see it as is. Sure, there may be more to it … Continue reading →

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John Shook’s analysis of Naturalism

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Dwight

[Third post on Preface to Atheism.] John Shook is one of the leading philosophers of naturalism. My understanding is that he advocates for pragmatic naturalism (evidence: he edited a book with that title, and has published books about the pragmatists … Continue reading →

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What is naturalism?

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Dwight

[This was my second post on Preface to Atheism, Aug 23, 2023.] In my first post I talked about my sudden flip to a natural worldview when I was young. I mentioned that I didn’t call what I believed naturalism … Continue reading →

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