Bill Pratt | February 13, 2013
Post Author: Bill Pratt A common refrain among secularists is that as science advances, the need for religion continues to diminish, and eventually the need will disappear altogether. After all, the argument goes, the only reason religion exists is to answer questions for which science has yet to provide answers. Once all those questions are [...]
Bill Pratt | February 1, 2013
Post Author: Bill Pratt Those who identify “good science” with the current mainstream practitioners of institutional science seem to think so. Professor of biology Austin L. Hughes, however, sees serious problems with the adulation of scientists in his essay, “The Folly of Scientism.” Hughes points to the core issue with this line of thinking: The fundamental problem [...]
Bill Pratt | January 30, 2013
Post Author: Bill Pratt Frustrated by an inability to rule out certain “unscientific” ideas (e.g., intelligent design) by using epistemological criteria, some scientists and philosophers simply make the claim that science is what scientists do. Or put another way, science is defined by the institutions that practice science. Professor of biology Austin L. Hughes, however, believes [...]
Bill Pratt | January 11, 2013
Post Author: Bill Pratt If you believe a handful of famous physicists (e.g., Hawking, Mlodinow, and Smolin), the answer is yes. Multiverse theorists, like the three aforementioned physicists, posit a multiverse which contains numerous universes with different physical laws. According to Austin L. Hughes, in his article “The Folly of Scientism,” these theorists hold that [...]
Bill Pratt | January 2, 2013
Post Author: Bill Pratt As I’ve read comments on the blog over the years, I’ve often read a version of the following: “science disproves the existence of God.” Even prominent atheists like Richard Dawkins and Victor Stenger say something similar. Edgar Andrews, in his book Who Made God?, points out that this argument can be circular. [...]
Bill Pratt | January 30, 2012
Post Author: Bill Pratt More times than I can count we have skeptics comment on the blog who insist that science is the only means of attaining knowledge. If you don’t believe me, just read the comments underneath last week’s blog posts. I have covered this topic numerous times, but it seems to surface over [...]
Bill Pratt | January 24, 2012
Post Author: Bill Pratt This canard has been repeated so often that it is now part of 21st century folklore. Contrary to this popular myth, philosopher Edward Feser, in his book The Last Superstition, correctly points out that the “so-called ‘war between science and religion’ is really a war between two rival philosophical worldviews, and not [...]
Bill Pratt | January 9, 2012
Post Author: Bill Pratt In part 1 of this series, we learned that there are two versions of the multiverse hypothesis, level 1 and level 2. The level 1 multiverse is non-controversial as it is basically an extension of our current universe in space. The level 2 multiverse, however, makes much grander claims and is fraught with [...]
Bill Pratt | January 6, 2012
Post Author: Bill Pratt One of the most powerful arguments for God’s existence is the fine tuning argument. Rather than rehearse it here, please read Wintery Knight’s presentation of the argument. Many atheist scholars acknowledge the persuasiveness of this argument (e.g., philosopher Peter Millican did as much in his recent debate with William Lane Craig), [...]
Bill Pratt | January 4, 2012
Post Author: Bill Pratt In part 1 of this series, Walt Tucker gave an explanation of the two slit experiment and its relation to quantum mechanics. In part 2, Walt explains why this experiment does not violate the law of non-contradiction. Below are Walt’s words. The quick answer is: if a particle could actually be [...]
