Category Archives: Preface to Atheism

Posts originally published in my SubStack “Preface to Atheism,” focused on explaining the scientific and philosophical concepts behind a natural worldview—in preface to presenting the case for naturalism or for atheism entailed by naturalism.

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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Nature of Knowledge, Preface to Atheism | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Nature of Knowledge, Preface to Atheism | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Nature of Knowledge, Preface to Atheism, Simulacrum | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Nature of Knowledge, Preface to Atheism, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Preface to Atheism, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Nature of Knowledge, Preface to Atheism, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Preface to Atheism, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Nature of Knowledge, Preface to Atheism, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Preface to Atheism

Posted on April 27, 2024 by Dwight

[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 →

Posted in Naturalism, Nature of Knowledge, Preface to Atheism, Uncategorized | Leave a comment