Galileo’s Goofs: Lessons We Can Learn from Failure
I’ve written before about the importance and methodology of thought experiments, and how they are often screwed up even by professional philosophers (see On Hosing Thought Experiments). Today I’m going to pull a page out of the history of science to...How Not to Live in Zardoz
So. You know. Zardoz. That dystopian 70s movie everyone hates because it’s so fucking weird. “It depicts,” as Wikipedia describes it, “a post apocalyptic world where barbarians worship a stone god called ‘Zardoz’ that grants them...Shaun Skills: How to Learn from Exemplary Cases
Shaun is a YouTube critic who composes a lot of excellent videos critiquing various other YouTube content, from social commentators to entertainment media. He does a good job of summarizing, fact-checking, logic-vetting, and illustrating his finds in the video medium....Advice on Probabilistic Reasoning
The most important advice you could ever get for becoming a reliable critical thinker are the following three tips, each of which depends on probabilistic reasoning. You might want to take my online course in Critical Thinking for the 21st Century to really dive into...Some Philosophy of Homo- and Transphobia, Supreme Court Style
The Civil Rights Act protects trans and gay people now. Because the Supreme Court has so ruled. I’ve long said some of the best philosophy written is in Supreme Court rulings. It’s always practical, real-world philosophy, that actually affects lives, so...Join My Course on Combating Christian & Islamic Propaganda! Hone Your Skills in Counter-Apologetics & Debate.
I’ve now added my popular course “Counter-Apologetics: Learning the Best Ways to Refute Arguments for God” to my monthly roster. You can register now and join us starting next week or any subsequent month. (Among any of my Ten Courses in philosophy and history...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...Build a Better Philosophy of Life in These Trying Times: Take My Course on Coherent Worldview-Building!
Does atheism have a rational foundation? If we are just atoms in motion, how can anything be right or wrong? What is reason and why trust it? What is true? What should I believe, about myself and the world I live in? What should our politics be? What should our values...That Luck Matters More Than Talent: A Strong Rationale for UBI
It can now be said with certainty that luck matters more than talent and effort. Not that talent and effort don’t matter, but that they are easily overwhelmed by bad luck, and easily replaced by good luck. Consequently, all ideologies that depend on any version...Study the Justifications and Applications of Moral Values with Me!
Hone your philosophy, master how to debate the moral argument with theists, and learn how to improve and defend your own moral reasoning and worldview. Have challenges in this subject to pose to me? Curious to study a subject so important and controversial? This is...Return of the Sex Police: A Renewed Abuse of Science to Outlaw Porn
A few years ago The Washington Post published a ridiculous propaganda piece by anti-porn activist (and feminist sociology professor) Gail Dines, “Is Porn Immoral? That Doesn’t Matter: It’s a Public Health Crisis,” tagline, “The science is now beyond...PragerU to The Internet: Science Proves God, You Pinko Commies!
PragerU claims in multiple conservative propaganda videos that science has proved God exists and atheists should just go stuff it already. I’ll tackle this nonsense today—just to be useful, since most of PragerU’s critiques online target its lies,...How I’d Answer the PhilPapers Survey
One of the most interesting and useful things Phil Papers did was conduct a massive survey of professors and PhDs in philosophy. I will here provide how I’d have answered on that survey myself, and compare it to all respondents with PhDs in philosophy, and the...Bayesian Statistics vs. Bayesian Epistemology
Bayesian statistics is now routine in almost all knowledge fields. But I often encounter people who confuse “Bayesian statistics” with “Bayesian epistemology” or even just “Bayesian reasoning.” I’ll get critics writing me who...Pascal’s Wager and the Ad Baculum Fallacy
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Pascal’s Wager. The gist of it is that if you bet on there being a God (meaning, to Pascal, the Medieval Catholic God), you have an infinite expected return on investment, because at worst it costs you nothing (or at...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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