epistemology Archives • Richard Carrier Blogs

Three Recommendations in Godless Epistemology

Richard Carrier — Wed, 20 May 2026 20:01:28 +0000

Godists have their own bogus epistemologies, designed to rationalize believing in gods. But rational people use only godless epistemologies, which aren’t rigged to favor any conclusion. I have long advocated Bayesian Epistemology as the correct logic for knowing what to believe and how confidently to believe it. So I realize I need to add a […]

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On Being Childish vs. Paying Attention: Buffoons vs. Bayes, Aristotle Edition

Richard Carrier — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 18:39:39 +0000

A childish Philosophical Muser tried claiming there are “errors” in this month’s article on The Historicity of Aristotle. And boy, if only you saw my DMs from this bozo. You will already get an idea from the article I just linked. But his DMs are worse, reflecting someone painfully immature and emotionally irrational, with no […]

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If Even Hobbits Could Build Advanced Civilizations, So Could Women: How Being Bad at Reasoning Sustains Antifeminist Mythologies

Richard Carrier — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 19:31:02 +0000

I dare the manosphere to mock Tolkien! “Hobbits are stupid and should be erased from Lord of the Rings because they’re too weak to build things, so obviously they’d have actually all starved to death or something.” Hobbits are way too woke to keep. Sad face. If you think that’s silly, just try this actual […]

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The Epistemological Endgame

Richard Carrier — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 15:13:44 +0000

One of the big issues in epistemology is the problem of infinite regress. “I believe the sun will rise.” “How do you know that?” “Because it always has.” “How do you know that?” “Because my memory and human records confirm it has.” “How do you know that?” “Because I’ve examined those memories and records.” “How […]

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My Monthly Recommendation: Three Guides for Philosophers

Richard Carrier — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:37:10 +0000

Every month I will write about something I recommend buying and why. I am an Amazon Associate, so if you click through the sales link in any of these brief recommendation blogs (like today’s), I will get a commission on everything in your cart when you check out (even if you don’t buy the thing […]

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Ross Douthat’s Worst Argument for God

Richard Carrier — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 21:00:40 +0000

I’ve written before about the recent decline of Christian apologetics (e.g. Addressing the New Christian Apologetics and Ben Shapiro’s Worst Argument for God and Another Two ‘Best’ Arguments for God?)—a trend that is illustrated by the enthusiastic revival of such antiquated and bumbling arguments as Undesigned Coincidences and Thomism: The Bogus Science. Ross Douthat of […]

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How Not to Be an Idiot: Lessons from Elon Musk

Richard Carrier — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 22:54:57 +0000

Elon Musk is an idiot. He has never accomplished anything by himself in his life and has no remarkable competencies. He could be the most incompetent person on the planet. Like most rich people, he’s just lucky. And Luck Matters More Than Talent. He fell ass-backwards into big money, and our system protects big money. […]

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A Primer on Actually Doing Your Own Research

Richard Carrier — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:13:08 +0000

Here I shall assemble some advice I now realize I always take for granted, but that I find even well-meaning people sometimes don’t know, yet will definitely benefit from. The idiom “Doing Your Own Research” has become a joke largely because the phrase usually comes from people who are shockingly bad at that, but who […]

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My Monthly Recommendation: Ayer and Polanyi

Richard Carrier — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 17:54:50 +0000

With the loss of a family member our income took a hit. My Patreon supporters ensure I will never employ paywalls or intrusive third party ads here, and I always benefit most from more Patreon patrons. And there are other ways to tip me or support my work (like buying my books, and more: see […]

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How Far Left Is Too Left?

Richard Carrier — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:42:17 +0000

I’m a hardcore lefty. I still encounter people surprised by that. But I also often get asked how far is too far. Today I’ll paint that out for you. This will explain how far left I go—and why I don’t go further, and neither should anyone. At the same time, this is also an accounting […]

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