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90On the Decisional Nature of FaithInterreligious Insight 21 (2): 40-46. 2023.On what basis should we embrace a religious belief? In this article I argue that religious faith should be viewed, not as a conclusion we arrive at after reviewing the evidence, but as an existential decision we make through which we define ourselves.
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470Why Computers are not Intelligent: An ArgumentPolitical Animal Magazine. 2017.Computers can mimic human intelligence, sometimes quite impressively. This has led some to claim that, a.) computers can actually acquire intelligence, and/or, b.) the human mind may be thought of as a very sophisticated computer. In this paper I argue that neither of these inferences are sound. The human mind and computers, I argue, operate on radically different principles.
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108Is it reasonable to believe in a God of love in the face of life's many evils? In this essay I consider how the biblical book of Job raises and responds to this question.
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95Religion, especially Western religion, calls upon us to 'believe' on the basis of 'faith.' But in what way can faith serve as a justification for belief? In this essay, I distinguish between 'belief in' and 'belief that' and argue that faith, properly understood, entails the former, not the latter.
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200In this brief essay, I argue that Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God achieves its effect through the verbal equivalent of a magician's "sleight-of-hand." More technically, the argument commits the informal fallacy of equivocation. I provide a brief analysis of the argument's text to demonstrate this.
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203A brief reflection on the deeper meaning of the Eastern "law of Karma."
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879In this very brief reflection, I argue against the suggestion that consciousness may be viewed as an emergent property of matter.
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210A brief reflection on the mind-body problem and its implications for the way we conceive of ourselves and live our lives.
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134A personal reflection on the meaning of worship and the 'worthiness' of God.
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229This is a brief primer on elementary logic originally developed for an Applied Ethics course. I offer it here for any who might find it worthwhile or useful.
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5712In this brief article I argue that liberalism is the political form most consistent with theism.
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93The Role of the Educator in the Just SocietyCAEC 12. 2007.In this brief article I reflect on our culture's moral ambiguity, as reflected in the popularity of such shows as The Sopranos, and argue for the need for a morally attuned philosophical education to address it.
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230In this paper I present, in summary form, some of my central thoughts about spirituality and religion.
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347This is the first chapter of a projected book to be entitled, The Ego and the Spirit. This book will endeavor to examine what lies at the heart of human spiritual aspiration from a psychological, philosophical, and religious perspective. In this first chapter, I discuss the predicament of the human ego, charged with a task that it cannot fulfill: To establish itself securely within being. The ego's efforts to fulfill this task through its dealings with the things and people of the material world…Read more
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161A brief dialogue on the meaning of Christ's salvation with a Christian evangelical.
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705If a Zen Master kills a kitten, and does not hear its scream, does it make a sound? In this essay, I use the Zen story of Master Nansen's killing of a kitten as an entree into a reflection on the Zen experience of enlightenment. I argue that the story of Nansen and the cat, as presented in the Zen tradition, raises many questions and problems that must be resolved if we are to envision the enlightenment experience in a clear way.
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239In December of 2013, my Dad died of advanced Alzheimer's and a condition called Myasthenia Gravis. This is a selection of journal entries I made over the course of the two years leading up to my Dad's death. It is not a philosophical essay, but a personal reflection, in "real time" so to speak, on the nature of the dying process in relation to questions of faith, hope, despair, and the meaning of a man's life. I offer it here for any who might find it worthwhile.
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566What Is Truth?: On the Need for an Old ParadigmPolitical Animal Magazine. 2018.In this essay I argue for the need to restore our recognition of the importance of philosophical truth in our endeavor to understand our world and our selves. In particular, I note that the physical sciences have no way of examining the axiological dimension of being - i.e., that dimension from which values spring - whereas an appreciation for, and understanding of, our values is crucial to the conduct of our personal, interpersonal, and political lives.
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173A parable of religion.
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250Can we find a phenomenological basis for the ethical 'ought'? This essay addresses this question through a reflection on Husserl's fifth Meditation. In the fifth Meditation Husserl endeavors to show the manner in which I constitute the other through an associative pairing of the other with my own subjectivity. This essay argues that this same associative pairing forces me to acknowledge the other as a person of intrinsic worth insofar as I recognize myself as one. Having acknowledged the intrins…Read more
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164Theology Without Walls - or 'trans-religious theology' - is a theological approach dedicated to reflecting upon the nature of divine reality as it may be revealed in any of the world’s religious traditions, without confining itself to any one in particular. In this paper I discuss some of the basic assumptions and implications of the Theology Without Walls project and suggest that this approach to theology, and to religion in general, promises to help resolve antagonisms and divisions that have …Read more
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298Where does suffering come from? If divine reality, ultimate reality, is a reality of bliss (as religion posits), how can suffering arise? What is the relationship of suffering to bliss? This is the question I explore in this essay. I suggest that, to make sense of this, we must think of bliss as subject to fragmentation and of suffering as fragmented modes of bliss. As we advance beyond fragmentation through our spiritual lives, our suffering is transmuted more and more into the love and bliss o…Read more
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1662In this essay I examine the moral message presented in Woody Allen's film, "Crimes and Misdemeanors."
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247In this very brief piece I suggest the possibility of regarding the Bible as both revealed and fallible, by outlining a theory of revelation that sees it as conditioned by the limitations of those who receive it.
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355Why Does Pain Hurt?: How Evolutionary Theory Contradicts MaterialismEssentia Foundation; Beyond Belief. 2023.In this essay I argue that Darwinian theory, far from supporting a philosophy of metaphysical materialism, actually calls materialism into question. Once this is recognized we see that evolutionary theory, for all its successes (which are considerable), is more limited than is generally supposed in its ability to reveal or explain the ultimate thrust of life.
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304In Spirit and Truth: Toward a Theology Without WallsIn Theology Without Walls: The Transreligious Imperative, Routledge. pp. 14-24. 2020.Theology Without Walls is a project that seeks to understand the nature of divine reality through an exploration of all the world's religious traditions, without confining itself to any one in particular. In this essay, I discuss why theology has traditionally been done within the boundaries of specific traditions and suggest that, in our time, we are called to a new, more comprehensive, approach to theology.
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2619In this very brief piece, I outline a way of thinking about spiritual pursuits.
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Religion |
Normative Ethics |