The Case Against Reality

Donald Hoffman is a Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California, Irvine. He is known for his studies in visual perception and optical illusion, as documented in his 1998 book Visual Intelligence: How We Create What We See, and at his webpage. These optical illusions got him interested in thinking about whether our visual perceptions are veridical at…

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Won’t Get Foiled Again – A Rejoinder to Jerry Walls

A couple of months ago (February 2016), Philosophia Christi published my and Steve Cowan’s rejoinder to Jerry Walls’s reply to our response to his original article on Christian compatibilism. Our abstract: Jerry Walls has attempted to make the case that no orthodox Christian should embrace compatibilism. We responded to his arguments, challenging four key premises. In his most…

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Are Molinist Distinctives Found in the Bible?

RTS philosopher James Anderson has an interesting post which asks the question, “How Biblical is Molinism?” He concludes that there is strong biblical support for two theses held by Molinism: “God’s comprehensive providential control over his creation” and “God’s counterfactual knowledge of human choices.” But he points out that the latter kind of knowledge doesn’t…

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A Response to Jerry Walls on Christian Compatibilism

In Philosophia Christi Vol. 13, No. 1 (Summer 2011), Christian philosopher Jerry Walls published “Why No Classical Theist, Let Alone Orthodox Christian, Should Ever Be a Compatibilist.” The abstract (article available here): I argue that no classical theist, and even more no orthodox Christian, should affirm compatibilism in our world. However plausible compatibilism may be on atheistic…

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Before and after

How running* can help demonstrate to your metaphysics class the difference between a thick particular and a thin particular: Before: (2008) After: (2011) *for a year in 2011, in my living room, while watching MI-5. This has been a public service announcement… (And please, don’t ask me to take the next logical step by trying…

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