Hume on religion: response to comments

"The force of Hume's arguments is not that he shows religion to be false, but that he shows that it fails when it tries to establish itself on reason and evidence. There are alternatives, but they are generally more mystical than most contemporary theists are comfortable with."

Latest in Comment is Free Hume on Religion series.

The World Tonight - BBC Radio 4

I was one of Paukl Moss's interviewees for his report last night on Spotify. You can listen again here for one week. (The item is about 20 minutes in.)

Creationism debate

It may not be great TV, but a debate I took part in on teaching creationism in schools (or not) is now online. Thanks to Phil Holden, The Humanist Society of Scotland and The Institute of Ideas.

The past is full of boys like Alfie

"These two children have missed out on the best the modern world has to offer them because they did not have the resources or support to defy what nature wanted from them. Desirable though it might be to stay in tune with nature, we cannot allow ourselves to march relentlessly to its beat."

Latest post at Comment is Free.

Hume on religion, part 3

"Hume is advocating a more modest approach to life's big questions. When experience has nothing to tell us about why things are the way they are, it is better to accept the limits of our knowledge than it is to try to extend it by use of analogies we have no reason to suppose hold. Like Hume, we use reason best when we appreciate its limits."

Latest in series at Comment is Free Belief.

A twist of faith

"I recently found myself sitting round a dinner table with seven people: four of them did not believe different species evolved from common ancestors and at least one was convinced that the world was created in six days around 6,000 years ago..."

Review of Polkinghorne's latest in this weekend's FT.
See also supplementary blog about it here.

Is Christianity a good influence on British culture?

"The most popular Jesus quote is 'No one comes to the father except through me,' which is dangerously divisive and exclusivist. 'May the force be with you' is much more harmless."

A Comment is Free debate with Theo Hobson.

Thought for the world

"The paradox of dementia goes to the heart of the puzzle of who we all are. On the one hand, we are flesh and blood, biological individuals. On the other, we are more than just animals. Without our minds we are not ourselves, even if our bodies keep functioning."

Download a podcast or read the transcript of yesterday's alternative thought for the day, part of a series run by The Humanist Society of Scotland and The Guardian. It was also included in Thursday's Guardian Daily podcast.

Hume on religion, part 2

"In a world of miracles, none of which was so clearly miraculous that it would be irrational to claim there was a natural explanation, reason would lead us to the false conclusion that no miracles had ever occurred. We should be sanguine about this. Hume did not believe reason was infallible, but we make fewer mistakes with it than without it."

Second in my series of Comment is Free Belief blogs.

Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit - 3 March

Giving a talk called "Do Psychology and Philosophy Need Each Other?" at the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths, University of London, on Tuesday 3 March 2009, at 6:10 pm in Room 256, Richard Hoggart Building, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW. Full details here.

Bath RLSI - 16 February

Talking on "Today's Slavery? Why history might judge us as harshly we do slave owners of the past. Full details here.

Debate: Should schools teach creationism? - Edinburgh, 11 February

With Alex McLellan, Founder and Executive Director of Reason Why; Dave Perks, Head of Physics at Graveney School in London; Christopher Brookmyre, Novelist, including Boiling a Frog; Marc Surtees, Paradigm Shift; Chaired by Tiffany Jenkins, Institute of Ideas. At the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. Details here, but I understand it has sold out.

Science and religion don’t have to be enemies

"Religion and secular society have become like oil and water, when for decades they have co-existed in a murky, messy sludge. And oil that floats on water can burn. That's why I don't want it to be a taboo to discuss creationism in schools, and religion in secular society."

This week's Herald column.

Hume on religion, part 1

"Hume is right. Miracles are violations of the laws of nature. The merely extraordinary is not miraculous. That so many find this so hard to accept reflects the fact that humans have problems with conceiving the unlikely. That very improbable things will often happen is entirely predictable from the sheer number of opportunities each day provides for exceptions to the norm to occur. We also tend to overestimate how improbable things are. The miracle of the Hudson, for instance, is far less of a miracle when you think about the time, expense and expertise put into pilot and cabin crew safety training, and aircraft design."

Part 1 of a Comment is Free series on Hume on Religion.

Taking Liberties - British Library

I appear in virtual form in one of the interactive parts of this British Library exhibition. I'm not sure where exactly, though, but I have been reliably spotted! Not on the website though, as far I can see.

Make no bones about it...

"We human beings are complex, mysterious creatures, aren't we? Well, maybe not. Hardly a week goes by without a team of scientists claiming that our behaviour and even values are linked to nothing more than the length of our fingers or the shape of our chins. If you want to plumb the depths of humanity, look not to the soul but the skeleton."

This week's Herald column.

Oxford Atheists - 3 February

Talking on "Why I am not a bright" at 20:15. Full details here.