The Uncertainty Podcast
A philosophy Ph.D. student works through problems of philosophy, religion, science, and the existential struggle with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) alongside leading thinkers. The podcast is similar to Alex O'Connor but with an American perspective.
Episodes
#90 A Heated Debate on Hell, Catholicism, and Fine-Tuning - Ethan Muse
Ethan Muse and I spar over the problem of evil, cosmic fine-tuning, infallible popes, and the doctrine of eternal conscious torment.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me on X because you’re awesome.EPISODE CHAPTERS:00:00:00 Introduction00:01:44 Rutgers, philosophy, and Catholic a
#89 Michael Huemer's New Argument for Atheism
Michael Huemer, philosopher at U.C. Boulder, joins me for a wide-ranging discussion of arguments for and against the existence of God, with special focus on his new argument for atheism: the impossibility of an infinite God. Check out Mike’s book, Knowledge, Value, and Reality: A Mostly Common Sense Guide to Philosophy.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do plea
#88 Can There be Evidence for God? | Eight Philosophers Debate
Is it even possible to have empirical evidence for God's existence? What if the stars realigned to spell out "I exist! Sincerely, God." Wouldn't THAT count as evidence for God? It seems that the answer is yes. But then, various objections to arguments for God seem to imply that even this extravagant, awesome evidence for God would not be any evidence whatsoever for theism. To many philosophers, th
#87 Yes, You Can be Gay and Christian - Matthew Vines
Matthew Vines, author of God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships, joins me to discuss the revised version of this now classic texts. Has Matt has changed his mind on any major issues? What, in the end, would Matt conclude if he determined that the Bible did prohibit same-sex relationships? Listen to find out!Video of this interview is available on YouTube.
#86 From Toad Venom to Jesus: Cross-Examining Philip Goff
I discuss and debate the merits of drug-induced experiences for one's religious beliefs, the difference panpsychism makes, the distinction between God's essence and energies, and giant purple platypuses floating over New York City.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me on X becaus
#85 What Is a Woman? - Talia Mae Bettcher And Tomas Bogardus
Talia Mae Bettcher and Tomas Bogardus join me to debate the question, "What is a woman?". Is gender biologically grounded, socially constructed, or something else entirely? If you're looking for a cordial and substantive exchange from two thinkers who fundamentally disagree on these issues, look no further.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please
#84 Continental Philosophy: Genius or Gibberish? - Keegan Kjeldson
Keegan Kjeldson of the Untimely Reflections YouTube channel returns to the podcast to discuss the merits of continental philosophy. While he is largely in favor and I am not, we both agree that Hegel is abysmally obscure.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me on X because you’re a
#83 Answering (Almost) Every Objection to the Fine-Tuning Argument
The great, the one, the only Joseph C. Schmid returns to the podcast to offer a comprehensive reply to (almost) every objection to the fine-tuning argument for theism. Ever worried about puddles? Inverse gamblers? Stalking horses? Boltzmann Brains? Alex Malpass? Well, fear no more: we define, describe, and dispel (or defend!) all these concerns and more. Not gonna lie guys, this is one of my favor
#82 Does William Lane Craig Get Cosmology Wrong? - Dan Linford
Dan Linford returns to the channel to offer his reply to my recent discussion with William Lane Craig, wherein he replied to critiques of his case for a cosmic beginning. We discuss probability theory, the BGV theorem, emergence of spacetime, and the relevance of quantum gravity to our scientific inferences about a beginning of the universe.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To suppor
#81 Are There Objective Moral Truths? - David Enoch vs. Lance Bush
David Enoch and Lance Bush face off over the question of whether objective moral truths exist. They debate the intuitiveness of moral realism, whether most people are moral realists, question-begging, radical skepticism, and much else besides.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me
#80 Something Exists; Therefore, God Exists - Josh Rasmussen
Joshua Rasmussen explains his cosmological argument for God's existence: the existence of contingent things requires an explanation, and God fits the bill. Roughly stated, for sure, but that's the idea.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me on X because you’re awesome.EPISODE CHAP
#79 Did the Universe Begin? William Lane Craig Cross-Examined
William Lane Craig, Christian philosopher and apologist, returns to the channel to defend his use of cosmology in support of the kalam cosmological argument. In particular, we focus on recent critiques of his work from Daniel Linford, Phil Halper, Niayesh Afshordi, and others.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via P
#78 Did Jesus' Resurrection Actually Happen? - Robyn Faith Walsh
Robyn Faith Walsh, professor of New Testament at the University of Miami, discusses how people in antiquity would have understood the concept of "resurrection", whether Jesus or Paul was the true founder of Christianity and what Paul meant when he said that we will be raised with "spiritual bodies", and what facts the historian can establish concerning the events before and after Jesus' death.Vide
#77 Does Fine-Tuning Point to God? - Alex Malpass vs. Miles K. Donahue
Alex Malpass and I sit down to hash out our differences surrounding the fine-tuning argument for theism. The debate is a veritable blood bath of ruthless repartee and, at times, intellectual genius - and we hope you enjoy.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me on X-formerly-Twitte
#76 Do These Objections Refute Free Will? - Michael Huemer
Michael Huemer returns to the channel to answer YOUR best objections to his case for free will. While I originally styled this as a "bonus" episode, it is not a bonus. It's the main weekly thing. Forgive me. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.Check out our original discussion about free will.To support the channel, do please oh please con
#75 Does God Exist? | Four Philosophers Debate
With the gracious hosting of Amos Wollen, myself and Noah McKay debated Alex Malpass and Nathan Bray on the question of God's existence - specifically, theism versus naturalism. Noah and I defended theism via appeal to a historical case for miracles and the fine-tuning of the universe for life. Alex and Nathan contended that theism was no better an explanation for these phenomena than naturalism,
#74 What If You're Still Dreaming? - Michael Huemer
Michael Huemer returns to the channel to discuss arguments for and against skepticism, the thesis that we cannot know much of anything, including whether or not we are dreaming right now. Other topics discussed: direct realism about perception and the arguments from illusion and hallucination, phenomenal conservatism, and the costs and benefits of self-publishing.Video of this interview is availab
#73 Why Materialism Can't Explain Consciousness - David Bentley Hart
Theologian and philosopher David Bentley Hart explains the contours of his argument against materialism is his new book, All Things Are Full of Gods: The Mysteries of Mind and Life. We explore his idealist leanings, the claim that a mechanistic approach to nature could never explain consciousness, and the thesis that atman is brahman, that I am fundamentally identical to infinite consciousness.Vid
#72 The Multiverse is Real - David Wallace
David Wallace, professor of philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh, explains why he finds the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics convincing. We discuss probability, what it means for persons to "split", whether teleportation means death, and the role of philosophy in assessing science.Video of this interview is available on YouTube.To support the channel, do please oh please consi
#71 Is There a Mind Behind the Universe? - Stephen C. Meyer
Philosopher, author, and intelligent-design advocate Stephen Meyer joins me to discuss the arguments of his recent book, Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries that Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe. While we only got around to two of those three discoveries, our conversation was robust, engaging, and will interest both advocates and critics of Stephen's work.Check out video
#70 Why Humans Believe in God - Daniel Wolne
Prof. Daniel Wolne explains historical theories of religion with special focus on Sigmund Freud's speculation that religious belief arises from a projection of a father figure onto the universe. We then dive into contemporary theories arising from the cognitive science of religion: theory of mind, hyperactive agency detection devices, and social function theories.Check out video of our discussion
#69 Two Oxford Students Tackle a Philosophical Smorgasbord - Amos Wollen
Isn't "smorgasbord" a great word? Amos Wollen, my friend and fellow Oxford graduate student, joins me to debate his novel argument for the compatibility of God's love and an eternal Hell, a theodicy involving our consenting to suffering prior to our births, a case for the Baha'i faith, a fine-tuning argument from beauty, and the real reason that I take so many bathroom breaks.Check out the video
#68 Is Morality Real? - Michael Huemer vs. Matt Lutz
Two philosophers come together to debate the question of whether objective, mind-independent moral facts exist. Mike says yes, Matt says no. They discuss whether we can ever have reason to go against our desires, whether beliefs about morality make any difference to our behavior, how we know things about the world, and the relevance of intuitions.Check out the video of the debate on YouTube.To sup
#67 Is Consciousness Physical? - Emerson Green
Emerson Green walks through three powerful objections to attempts to reduce consciousness to the brain: phenomenal transparency, philosophical zombies, and vagueness.Check out Emerson's YouTube channel.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me on X-formerly-Twitter.EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00:00 Introduction00:00:05 What are you a YouTu
#66 It's Okay to be Gay (and Christian) - Randal Rauser
Dr. Randal Rauser and I explore the arguments of his new book, The Wideness of the Sea: How to be Evangelical and Gay-Affirming, wherein he offers a four-part case for including a gay-affirming perspective within the fold of Christian orthodoxy: scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating, either via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee.Follow me
#65 The U.S. Is Increasingly Unsafe for Trans People - Talia Mae Bettcher
Talia Mae Bettcher explains why she has come to a dismal view of the United States as a home for trans people, details the Trump administration's recent policy changes targeting trans individuals, and debates the merits of a biological understanding of sex and gender.Check out Talia's latest book, Beyond Personhood: An Essay in Trans Philosophy.To support the channel, do please oh please consider
#64 What If God Is Evil? - Stephen Law
Stephen Law, professor of philosophy at Oxford, discusses his "evil god challenge" to theists: prove that God is not perfectly evil. That challenge, we will see, is surprisingly difficult to meet. Check out Stephen's paper outlining the evil-god challenge, as well as Mooney and Hendricks paper critiquing the challenge.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via
#63 Does Mind-Brain Harmony Point to God? - Graham Oppy vs. Brian Cutter
Graham Oppy and Brian Cutter join me to debate philosophy's newest argument for God: the argument from psychophysical harmony. We talk about epistemic probability versus metaphysical possibility, the relevance of thought-experiments to determining possibility, whether mental states are identical to brain states, and what we ought to infer if we found John 3:16 in binary code in the digits of p
#62 Would You Still Love Me if I Was a Worm? - Mhairi Tait
Mhairi Tait, my friend and fellow DPhil student at Oxford, sits down with me to discuss whether Ted Bundy's mother was right to stand by her son, whether you could ever love the same person forever, whether you should "trade up" if you find someone with better qualities than your current beloved, and whether one still ought to be loved even if one were a worm.To support the channel,
#61 Why This Oxford Professor Thinks Morality is Objective - David Enoch
Dr. David Enoch, author of "Taking Morality Seriously: A Defense of Robust Realism," joins me to discuss moral realism versus anti-realism, objections from the moral error theorist, and my personal sticking points in affirming the existence of irreducible moral facts: moral disagreement across cultures and evolutionary explanations for our moral beliefs.Buy David's book defending rob
#60 A Short and Sweet Intro to Relativity - Dan Linford
Dr. Dan Linford breaks down Einstein's theory of special relativity, its consequences for our understanding of time, and whether there are any ways to reconcile relativity with the view that past events are no longer real, and future events are not yet real. In particular, he examines William Lane Craig's attempt to rehabilitate a neo-Lorentzian theory of relativity.To support the channel, do plea
#59 Why Religious Belief Is on the Decline - Christian Smith
Sociologist and professor Dr. Christian Smith discusses his recent book, Why Religion Went Obsolete: The Demise of Traditional Faith in America. We discuss the reasons for the decline of faith in a traditionally Christian nation, the seeming recent revival of faith among the younger generation, and what these developments mean for the future of religion in America.To support the channel, do please
#58 The Big Bang Doesn't Prove God - Afshordi and Halper
Astrophysicist Niayesh Afshordi and science communicator Phil Halper return to the channel to discuss their new book, Battle of the Big Bang: The New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins. We discuss inflationary theory, the BGV theorem, how space and time might not exist at the fundamental level of reality, and so much else besides. This was one of my favorite interviews so far.Follow Phil on YouTube.To su
#57 Everything that Begins to Exist Has a Cause? - Dan Linford
Dan Linford and I discuss the causal principle, that everything that begins to exist has a cause. We look at William Lane Craig's oft-repeated three reasons for affirming the premise: something cannot come from nothing, if something could come from nothing, then anything and everything should come from nothing, and an inductive generalization supports the causal principle.Check out Linford's paper
#56 What Is a Woman? - Tomas Bogardus
Dr. Tomas Bogardus discusses contemporary philosophical analysis of sex and gender, defending a traditional understanding of these terms.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Feel free to follow me on Twitter
#55 Morality Doesn't Exist - Matt Lutz
Dr. Matt Lutz defends moral error theory, the two-part thesis that (i) our moral claims are capable of being true or false, but (ii) because there is no objective morality, all of them are false.Check out all of Dr. Lutz's publications.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Fe
#54 It Matters Whether God Exists | Joe Folley
Joe Folley and I discuss our philosophical differences regarding fine-tuning, the problem of evil, skeptical theism, pragmatic justification for God, apatheism, and much else besides.Check out Joe's excellent YouTube channel.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Feel free to
#53 Stop Using Science to Prove God - Tim Maudlin
Dr. Tim Maudlin returns to the channel to discuss the fine-tuning of the universe, the beginning of the universe, and whether these facts might be reasonably suggest that a creator God exists.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Feel free to follow me on
What Christian Apologists Keep Missing | #52 Dr. Randal Rauser
Dr. Randal Rauser, himself a Christian apologist, joins me to critically examine some of the mistakes and excesses of Christian apologetics as it is commonly practiced - on YouTube and within broader academic discourse as well.Check out Randal's YouTube channel.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal or Buy Me a
#51 Dr. Michael Huemer | It's Simple - Stop Eating Meat
Dr. Michael Huemer and I discuss the evils of factory farming, the strengths and possible drawbacks of a vegan and vegetarian diet, whether animals have rights, if humans are the pinnacle of intrinsic value, and whether already having severe dietary restrictions justifies eating meat (it doesn't).Check out Dr. Huemer's book, "Dialogues on Ethical Vegetarianism".To support the channel, do please oh
God is Time. Literally | #50 Dr. RT Mullins
Dr. RT Mullins discusses his view that God is literally identical to time. We also discuss and critique William Lane Craig's proposal that God is, in a sense, both temporal and timeless.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. Feel free to follow me on Instagram
How to Make a Universe Without God | #49 Dr. Daniel Rubio
Dr. Daniel Rubio graciously agreed to come on the channel to discuss and critique a paper I wrote examining four lesser-discussed hypotheses that lie somewhere between theism and atheism: the simulation hypothesis, cosmopsychism, axiarchism, and new laws of nature.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee
Some Contradictions Are True. Deal With It. | #48 Dr. Graham Priest
Dr. Graham Priest explains his views on dialetheism, the view that some contradictions are true, while also discussing the relationship between Buddhism and modern science, the cosmological and fine-tuning arguments, and how Christians can avoid refutation by embracing paradox.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal or Buy Me a
The Multiverse Supports Belief in God | #47 Dr. Klaas Kraay
Dr. Klaas Kraay explains that the multiverse, rather than serving as an alternative to God, actually supports belief in God by undermining two atheistic arguments: the problem of evil and the problem of no best world. Check out Klaas' paper explaining the theistic multiverse, "Theism, Possible Worlds, and the Multiverse." Also see my paper looking at the relationship between theistic multiverses a
More Than One Christianity in the Ancient World | #46 Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh
Dr. Robyn Faith Walsh, professor of New Testament at the University of Miami, explains the gnostic gospels, their significance, and their relationship to the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and whether Jesus' earlies disciples would recognize the theology of the earliest Christian creeds.Check out Dr. Walsh's book, "The Origins of Early Christian Literature." To support the cha
The Universe Designed Itself - No God Needed | #45 Dr. Philip Goff
Philip Goff joins me to discuss panpsychism, cosmopsychism, and how these theories of consciousness have the potential to explain one of the most striking discoveries of modern science: the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life.Check out Philip's book, Why?: The Purpose of the Universe.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating via PayPal
The Law of Non-Contradiction is Wrong - Here's Why | #44 Dr. Jc Beall
Dr. Jc Beall, professor of philosophy at Notre Dame, explains "glut theory," the view that some contradictory statements can both be true - or, equivalently, that true theories can be inconsistent.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitt
Why Cosmology Might Kill Environmentalism | #43 Dr. Neil Manson
Neil Manson explains the hidden tension between environmental ethics and findings in cosmology over the last thirty years: if life exists throughout the universe, then we lose one main argument for caring what happens to life here on Earth.Check out Neil Manson's paper, "Anthropocentrism, Exo-Planets, and the Cosmic Perspective". To support the channel, do please oh please consider d
Why You Should Be an Effective Altruist | #42 Matthew Adelstein
Matthew returns to the podcast to discuss effective altruism and its philosophical underpinnings.Check out Matthew's YouTube channel.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter. Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at mileskdonahue.substac
Why Divine Hiddenness Doesn't Prove Atheism | #41 Dr. Max Baker-Hytch
Dr. Max Baker-Hytch of Oxford University discusses Schellenberg's argument for atheism stemming from nonresistant nonbelief, nonbelief in God that results through no fault of one's own. Check out Max's paper, "On Sin-based Responses to Divine hiddenness".To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram
Philosophy's Newest Argument for God, Defended | #40 Dr. Brian Cutter
Dr. Brian Cutter outlines the argument from psychophysical harmony for theism and responds to Graham Oppy's recent critique. Check out Crummett and Cutter's article defending the argument from psychophysical harmony: To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter
Can a Historian Prove the Resurrection? | #39 Dr. Mike Licona
Dr. Mike Licona, professor of New Testament Studies at Houston Christian University, joins me to discuss the philosophy of history, whether a historian can determine if an event like the resurrection of Jesus happened, and then, if they can, whether the evidence is in fact sufficient to conclude that two-thousand years ago, Jesus rose from the dead.Check our Dr. Licona's book, "The Resurr
The Best Argument for Reincarnation | #38 Dr. Michael Huemer
Michael Huemer returns to the podcast to discuss his philosophical argument for reincarnation. If time is infinite, then the probability that you have lived multiple times - indeed, an infinite number of times - is 100%. I am not so sure about this argument. Check out Huemer's published version of the reincarnation argument, as well as his Substack. To support the channel, do please oh please
A Vigorous Debate on the Fine-Tuning Argument | #37 Troy Dana
Troy Dana joins me to debate the fine-tuning argument for God, as well as his anti-design fine-tuning argument.Check out Troy's YouTube channel, along with Troy's written version of his anti-design argument.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter.EPISODE CHAPTERS00:
How Nietzsche Disproved Free Will | #36 Keegan Kjeldson
Keegan Kjeldson, YouTuber and musician, joins me to discuss how Nietzsche would have responded to philosopher Michael Huemer's argument for free will. Check out Keegan's awesome YouTube channel.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter. Get full access to Miles K. Donahu
Is Philosophy a Waste of Time? | #35 Joe Schmid
Joe and I take a more personal turn in this video, discussing the importance of philosophy, what got us into the discipline, and whether studying Immanuel Kant your whole life is really worth it.Check out Joe's YouTube channel, Majesty of Reason.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter
The Gnostic Gospels Don't Undermine Christianity | #34 Dr. Darrell L. Bock
Dr. Darrell L. Bock, research professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, discusses the gnostic gospels and their relationship to early Christian belief and the historical Jesus.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter.EPISODE CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction00:18 What mak
Could ChatGPT Ever Be Conscious? | #33 Dr. Ned Block
Dr. Ned Block, professor of philosophy and psychology at NYU, joins me to discuss theories of consciousness, functionalism, the difference between access and phenomenal consciousness, the limitations of current Large Language Models, and how far away artificial general intelligence is from our current capacities.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to
Two Oxford Students Solve All of Philosophy | #32 Sam Thomas
Sam Thomas, my philosophy bestie hailing from Oxford, England, joins me to go through the results of the 2020 PhilPapers survey of professional philosophers. We offer our opinions on many major philosophical issues.Check out the 2020 PhilPapers survey.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter.EPISODE
Philosophy's Newest Argument for God Fails | #31 Dr. Graham Oppy
Dr. Graham Oppy, perhaps academia's leading atheist philosopher of religion, joins me to analyze a newly proposed argument for God's existence: the argument from psychophysical harmony. Check out Psychophysical Harmony: A New Argument for Theism by Cutter and Crummett.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating. Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitte
You Have Free Will. Deal With It | #30 Dr. Michael Huemer
Dr. Michael Huemer, professor of philosophy at U.C. Boulder, returns to the podcast to defend the case for (libertarian) free will.Check our Dr. Huemer's fantastic Substack.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating. Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter.EPISODE CHAPTERS:00:00:00 Introduction00:00:22 What is free will?00:08:40 Huemer's proof of free
Is Naturalism Self-Refuting? | #29 Dr. Evan Fales
Dr. Evan Fales, professor of philosophy at Iowa University, discusses Alvin Plantinga's famous "evolutionary argument against naturalism," and whether Plantinga has successfully shown that naturalism - the view that there is no person such as God or anything like God - cannot be rationally affirmed.To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating. Feel free to follow m
Can You Split the Mind? | #28 Dr. Josh Rasmussen
Dr. Josh Rasmussen, professor of philosophy at Baylor university, discusses the implications of the Apple Original TV show, "Severance", for two philosophical debates: (1) personal identity, and (2) the relationship between mind and body. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating. Feel free to follow me on Instagram or Twitter.Episode Chapters00:00:00 Introduction00:02:16 Topic
Christians Must Divorce from Trump | #27 Dr. Randal Rauser
Many have watched with alarm as American evangelicals - a particular sect of Protestant Christianity - have largely embraced President Donald Trump, despite the (seeming) inconsistency between his rhetoric on the one hand, and biblical principles on the other. Dr. Randal Rauser joins me for a third time to discuss the connections between evangelicalism, President Donald Trump, and the Republican p
Atheists Can Be Moral Realists Too | #26 Dr. Erik Wielenberg
Erik Wielenberg, professor of philosophy at DePauw University, discusses godless normative realism, his attempt to craft an objective morality without appeal to God. We also debate divine command theory, the attempt to do the precise opposite: ground ethics in God's nature, and in His commands. To support the channel, do please oh please consider donating.For more information about Dr. Wielenberg
Why Christianity's View on Salvation Makes Sense | #25 Dr. William Lane Craig
William Lane Craig - Christian philosopher, theologian, and apologist - joins me to discuss the Christian doctrine of salvation. I, per usual, throw all my questions at him along the way. Why did God create the world? Could God have saved the world without requiring Jesus to die on the cross? Can a Mormon be saved? Why does salvation require propositional belief? Dr. Craig addresses all these ques
Richard Carrier's Arguments for Atheism Fail | #24 Matthew Adelstein
Matthew Adelstein, YouTuber, philosophy student, and prolific Substacker, sits down to discuss Richard Carrier's arguments for atheism and why they fail to convince. IMPORTANT LINKSMatthew's YouTube channel.Matthew's written response to some of Carrier's arguments: https://substack.com/@benthamsbulldog... Carrier's paper, "Bayesian Counter-Apologetics: Ten Arguments for God Destroyed". My dialogue
Fine-Tuning is Evidence for God | #23 Dr. Tom Rudelius
Dr. Thomas Rudelius, early universe cosmologist and professor of physics at Durham University, sits down with me to discuss whether cosmology indicates that the universe began to exist, what it might mean for spacetime to "emerge" from a deeper reality, and whether the fine-tuning of the laws of physics indicates design behind the universe. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this w
Morality is Not a Matter of Opinion | #22 Dr. Michael Huemer
Dr. Michael Huemer and I discuss ethical intuitionism, the view that there are moral truths, and that we know these truths via intellectual intuition. For more about Dr. Huemer, click here. To purchase Dr. Huemer's book, 'Ethical Intuitionism', click here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mileskdonahue
A Reply to Richard Carrier on the Resurrection | #21 Dr. Craig Blomberg
Dr. Craig Blomberg, professor emeritus of New Testament at Denver Seminary, responds to Richard Carrier's critique of the historical argument for the resurrection of Jesus. To donate to the channel (super big pretty please please please), click here. To watch my interview with Carrier, click here. Blomberg's written debate on the resurrection, 'Resurrection: Fact or Faith?', accessible here. This
The Case Against the Resurrection of Jesus | #20 Dr. Richard Carrier
Dr. Richard Carrier, author of 'On The Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt', returns to the podcast to discuss his problems with the proffered historical case for the resurrection of Jesus, focusing on William Lane Craig. To access Richard Carrier's blog, click here. To support the podcast (pretty please), click here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this wit
The Case Against Christianity | #19 James Fodor
James Fodor, author and YouTuber, joins me to debate the case for and against Christianity. To access James's YouTube channel, click here. To support my efforts at having interesting conversations with interesting people, click here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe Get ful
Science (Might Not) Care about the Truth | #18 Dr. Barry Loewer
Dr. Barry Loewer, professor of philosophy at Rutgers University, joins me to discuss the merits of scientific anti-realism, the view, roughly, that our best scientific theories do not attempt to capture the truth about the world. We also talk about the relationship between science and philosophy. It's good stuff. To support my efforts to explore interesting topics with interesting people, cons
A Masterclass in Cosmology | #17 Dr. Niayesh Afshordi
Dr. Afshordi is an astrophysicist at the University of Waterloo, specializing in cosmology, quantum gravity, and the physics of gravity. We discuss dark matter, dark energy, quantum gravity, the fine-tuning of the universe, and the multiverse. If you like my work and want to support me as I explore lots of cool things with lots of cool people, do please consider donatinghere. To pre-order Dr. Afsh
We've Got Hell Completely Wrong | #16 Dr. Randal Rauser
Dr. Randal Rauser joins me once again, this time to discuss the tradition Christian doctrine of eternal conscious torment (ECT), and his objections to this view. We also discuss issues arising for alternatives to ECT, like annihilationism and universalism, ending with three objections to the doctrine of Heaven. For more of Randal's work, check out his blog here. This is a public episode. If you'd
William Lane Craig Misrepresents Science | #14 Phil Halper
Phil Halper joins me to discuss his forthcoming book, Battle of the Big Bang: New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins, and whether William Lane Craig misrepresents the empirical evidence for a beginning of the universe. If you enjoy what I do and want to continue seeing interesting people on the channel, super pretty please consider donating, click here. To pre-order Phil's book, click here.To watch Phil'
We've Solved the Problem of Evil (Maybe) | #13 Dr. Perry Hendricks
Perry Hendricks, author of the recently published book Skeptical Theism, joins me to discuss one of the main theistic strategies for responding to the problem of evil, the problem of reconciling the evil and suffering in the world with the existence of an all-loving God. After outlining that response, Perry and I go through the four strongest objections to it: divine deception, Climenhaga's conund
Countering Christian Apologists on the Canaanite Slaughter | #12 Dr. Randal Rauser
Dr. Randal Rauser lays out the case against attempts to defend a literal interpretation of the biblical passages surrounding the slaughter of the Canaanites. We discuss the purported moral difference between slaughter and driving a people group from their homes, hyperbole in the Ancient Near East, and what a Christian is to do if they believe that a literal reading of the Canaanite conquest narrat
Is There a Case from Physics to God? | # 11 Rabbis Feder and Zimmer
Rabbis Elie Feder and Aaron Zimmer, cohosts of the 'Physics to God' podcast, join me to discuss their project in showing how physics provides strong evidence for the existence of God. We discuss several aspects of the fine-tuning argument - whether a deeper law of physics can remove fine-tuning, the Achilles' heel of the multiverse, and whether God is a simple or complex hypothesis. To access Aaro
Ten(ish) Arguments for Atheism | #10 Dr. Richard Carrier
Dr. Richard Carrier and I discuss his article, 'Ten Ways the World Would be Different if God Existed,' Carrier's case that we can turn ten theistic arguments on their head and use them to prove atheism. We naively thought we had time for all ten, but in 1.5 hours, we only discussed three - still, we had a substantive, spirited debate about the merits of theism and naturalism that I hope you'll enj
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