#165 Stephen Law: Naturalism, Liberalism, And The Religious And The Atheists
Dr. Stephen Law is formally Reader in Philosophy at Heythrop College, and before that Research Fellow at The Queen’s College Oxford. He is currently editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy journal THINK. He has published several books, including The Philosophy Gym, A Very Short Introduction to Humanism, and Believing Bullshit. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts and Commerce and in 2008 became the provost of the Centre for Inquiry UK.
In this episode, we start off by talking about the limitations of naturalism in terms of knowledge acquisition, the is-ought problem, and the flaws of relativism. Then, we move on to discussing Liberalism, as is presented by Stephen Law in his book, The War for Children’s Minds, and the important distinction between freedom of thought and freedom of action. We also deal with the issue of religion in a scientific world and the approach of the New Atheists. We question the idea that the West is going through some sort of “moral crisis”, and the bad outcomes that pushing for that narrative might have. And, finally, we address the flaws in arguments between religious people and atheist when it comes to the problem of evil and the Evil-God challenge.
Time Links:
The limitations of naturalism
The is-ought distinction
The flaws of relativism
Liberalism and freedom of thought
Religion in a modern scientific world
The New Atheists
Freedom of thought is not freedom of action
Are we really going through a “moral crisis” in the West?
The problem of evil and the Evil-God challenge in debates between religious people and atheists
Follow Dr. Law’s work!
Follow Dr. Law’ work:
THINK: https://bit.ly/2tBIZRX
Personal Website/Blog: https://bit.ly/2GKaD7M
Books: https://amzn.to/2tzAo2j
Twitter handle: @stephenlaw60
Books referenced in the interview
The War for Children’s Minds: https://amzn.to/2U88wOa
The Philosophy Gym: https://amzn.to/2E8nL32
The Complete Philosophy Files: https://amzn.to/2H0v93y