Category Archives: Atheology

Are Mountains Real?

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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?

[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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Preface to Atheism

[Preface to Atheism is a blog I started on SubStack. What follows is the first post from Aug 18, 2023] In this Substack, I will advocate atheism as entailed by the meta philosophy of naturalism rather than atheism based on … Continue reading

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Georges Lemaître & Naturalism as History

Throughout the history of science, the naturalistic turn of mind has been to look for a history for physical stuff. And the supernaturalistic turn of mind has been the opposite. Plato famously excluded a history for the world by postulating … Continue reading

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Muse is the Antidote

My poetic muse has always been an alter-ego, chastising me for being too much in my head, too cerebral. Looking back over the years I can see that my muse has presented a more or less consistent message: life is … Continue reading

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Fallacies of the Naive Observer

Today I’m going to discuss a fallacy common to observers of the physical world (people like us), one which has significant practical importance. I call it the naive observer fallacy, and it goes something like this. (1) Observers bring biases … Continue reading

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