More Hosing of Thought Experiments: Pereboom’s Manipulation Argument Against Causal-Chain Free Will
I’ve been asked to discuss what’s wrong with Derk Pereboom’s so-called “Manipulation Argument” (or “Four Case”) argument against Compatibilism, which is of course the view that causal determinism is compatible with free will....Another Failed Thought Experiment: Nozick’s Experience Machine and How It Exemplifies What Bad Philosophy Looks Like
I will be answering in my next article the new questions posed in the 2020 iteration of the PhilPapers survey (a new development I just wrote about). But one of those new questions requires a separate article on its own: the one written, “Experience machine...Three Common Tactics of Cranks, Liars, and Trolls
You might have noticed a shift over the past few years in how I address apologists, propagandists, kooks, and various disinformation scoundrels, toward laying out not just that they are wrong (their facts are bogus; their logic is hosed), but the underlying...The Objective Value Cascade
In the movie Serenity, the crew of a spaceship far in humanity’s future discover the lost planet Miranda, where they discover a dark secret: that a government drug used on its population to make them docile and compliant, actually removed all desires of any...Biogenesis and the Laws of Evidence
Creationists aren’t just operating on a misunderstanding and ignorance of the science (often wilful); they are also operating on broken epistemologies. The case of biogenesis affords us an illustration. I’ve written many articles on this. For example, in...Why A Neo-Aristotelian Naturalism Is Probably True
I have written a few times on my worldview as a whole—my “philosophy of life.” To be viable I believe any worldview must consist of a complete, consilient, coherent, evidence-based account of the six foundations of knowledge: epistemology (which...Jesus and the Problem of the Fraudulent Reference Class
Several students and patrons have lately asked me a similar question. Apparently the new fad is for Christians to go around insisting Jesus is so historically unique that he cannot be subsumed under any other reference class by which to estimate any prior odds on any...Crank Bayesianism: William Lane Craig Edition
A patron asked me to evaluate a video by TMM titled “WLC Misunderstands Hume’s Rejection of Miracles,” in which the host critiques William Lane Craig’s “rebuttal” to David Hume’s argument against miracles—because...Epistemology Test: Anthony Fauci Edition
Your epistemology might be broken. Here is one test to find out. And if that’s what you find, you need to repair that broken epistemology; and I have some tips here on how to do that. But the broader skills you need to master for a reliable epistemology I have...A Vital Primer on Media Literacy
I am getting asked the same question far too much lately: “What is your take on [x]; it seems pretty convincing; how do we know it’s not reliable?” Where [x] will be some crank on the internet, some ridiculous news headline, some random article...The Bogus Idea of the Bogus Mysteries of Consciousness
I’ve been asked to comment on Peter Hacker’s bizarre claim that qualia don’t exist in his arrogantly braggish essay “The Bogus Mysteries of Consciousness.” So here goes. Say What Now? First, what are qualia? If you’re new to the...The Principle of Indifference
The Principle of Indifference is important for Bayesian reasoning, and hence for Bayesian epistemology—and hence for epistemology, full stop. Yet it has many critics. The common mistake they all make, is similar to the mistake all philosophers make when they...How My Philosophy Would Solve the Unsolved Problems
Tooling around looking for lists of “unsolved problems” in philosophy I must admit the best list that’s most easily found online is Wikipedia’s. I realized for general benefit I should write up how my worldview addresses these. I’ve...Murray’s Primer on Atheism
I’ll shortly announce the addition of my popular class on Christian and Islamic counter-apologetics to my monthly online course offerings. Which means it’s time to discuss the few issues I do have with my preferred course text for that: Malcolm Murray’s...Bayesian Statistics vs. Bayesian Epistemology
I often encounter people who confuse “Bayesian statistics” with “Bayesian epistemology” or even just “Bayesian reasoning.” I’ll get critics writing me who will assert things like “Bayesian statistics can’t be used...Get Dr. Carrier’s Latest!
About the Author
Richard Carrier is the author of many books and numerous articles online and in print. His avid readers span the world from Hong Kong to Poland. With a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University, he specializes in the modern philosophy of naturalism and humanism, and the origins of Christianity and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, with particular expertise in ancient philosophy, science and technology. He is also a noted defender of scientific and moral realism, Bayesian reasoning, and historical methods.
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