Category: The Soul
Thinking About Free Thinking
Question: Dear Tim, This is a three-pronged question: What is The FreeThinking Argument? What are the premises of the argument? And what reasons are there to believe that the premises are true? Please lay out a defense of all of the argument’s steps. – Evan Tim’s Response: Thank you for the question, Evan.[1] Before I … Continue reading Thinking About Free Thinking
Are the Doors of Hell Locked from the Inside?
Introduction C. S. Lewis claimed that the doors of hell are locked from the inside.[i] In this article, I provide an argument to support Lewis’ claim. I also discuss the apologetic significance of his assertion. Assumptions I assume that free will exists and that human beings have libertarian freedom. I also assume the moral principle … Continue reading Are the Doors of Hell Locked from the Inside?
Philosophical Notes on the Underground: One
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) In Part 1 of Notes from Underground, Dostoyevsky’s Underground Man claims that consciousness is a disease.[1] In a loose sense, given certain assumptions, Underground Man makes a significant point. In a strict sense, however, he is wrong. Let me explain. First, we … Continue reading Philosophical Notes on the Underground: One
Is the Freethinking Argument Question Begging?
Question: Dear Tim, I will try to be as concise and brief as possible. I am a Christian and my question is concerning free will, determinism, Molinism and of course, with respect to your Argument of Freethinking against Naturalism. The Freethinking Argument Against Naturalism is formulated as follows: 1- If naturalism is true, the immaterial … Continue reading Is the Freethinking Argument Question Begging?
The Vanishing “I”
Question: Tim, you suggest that the determinist would probably think, or be committed to thinking, that either God or nature evaluates our beliefs (one of these is “the ‘thing’ evaluating and judging” our beliefs). But at the same time, you allow that on determinism we have mental states, presumably including these evaluative mental states (about … Continue reading The Vanishing “I”
Should Christians Reject the Soul for Biblical Reasons?
Question Dear Dr. Erasmus, Tim Stratton shared your post, Objections to the Existence of the Soul, to the UK Apologetics and Evangelism Facebook group, of which I am a member. In that group, there is a very knowledgeable Christian who does not seem to believe in the existence of a soul yet says he is not a … Continue reading Should Christians Reject the Soul for Biblical Reasons?
Objections to the Existence of the Soul
In a recent blog post, Professor Keith Parsons offers three reasons for why (he thinks) the soul does not exist. (You might recall that Parsons debated William Lane Craig in 1998). Since Parsons’ objections to substance dualism (for simplicity, I will hereafter refer to substance dualism simply as ‘dualism’) seem rather common among lay atheists, … Continue reading Objections to the Existence of the Soul
Substance Dualism vs Socialism
I am amazed and frightened at the acceptance of, and even downright preference for Socialism among the young adults of today. Most young adults today possess little property due to the socialist bent of our current government and our administrative state, so it is not totally unexpected that they might embrace socialism as they have comparatively nothing to lose … Continue reading Substance Dualism vs Socialism
Brian Cox, Souls, & the Large Hadron Collider
There are so many great scientists out there. The things they get to discover and explain to the rest of us lay people are always very cool. Every so often, however, a well-known scientist will get a bit of publicity over a controversial comment they make. When theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking’s book, The Grand Design … Continue reading Brian Cox, Souls, & the Large Hadron Collider
Ghosts, Zombies, & Substance Dualism
Question Tim, have you seen that CERN has provided scientific proof that the soul (or the “ghost in the machine”) does not exist! Too bad for your Freethinking Argument! This scientific data does fatal damage to the Interactionist Substance Dualism you argue for because the only way for an immaterial substance to move a material object … Continue reading Ghosts, Zombies, & Substance Dualism