Posts from — December 2009

In Intelligent Life, there’s an interesting article on a parable written by the philosopher John Wisdom. Here is said parable in full:

Two people return to their long neglected garden and find, among the weeds, that a few of the old plants are surprisingly vigorous. One says to the other, “It must be that a gardener has been coming and doing something about these weeds.” The other disagrees…They pitch their tents and set a watch. No gardener is ever seen. The believer wonders if there is an invisible gardener, so they patrol with bloodhounds but the bloodhounds never give a cry. Yet the believer…insists that the gardener is invisible, has no scent and gives no sound. The sceptic doesn’t agree, and asks how a so-called invisible, intangible, elusive gardener differs from an imaginary gardener, or even no gardener at all. [Read more →]

They were really just worshipping Yahweh.

Back in August, this blog argued that it was not possible to believe in false gods, and that if it were, it would be silly for God to be jealous, as that is a tacit acknowledgement that these “false” gods actually exist. An American Old Testament professor by the name of Dr Claude Mariottini stumbled across the piece, and duly produced a response on his blog. For someone who has a doctorate in the area, his piece is stunningly lacking in rigour, apparently ignorant of many basic facts about the Bible, and exemplifies the dismissive attitude of many theologians to those who question their faiths.

He says that I had “introduced so many incorrect statements that I believe some clarification is in order”—which must whet the intellectual appetite, given that my piece was only 196 words long. Then, tautologically, he says, “In my response to his statements, I will be brief, otherwise, this post would be very long.” [Read more →]

Diplomatic relations between the camps of Waldemar Januszczak and Roger Scruton are especially hostile. The BBC’s Modern Beauty season has recently been the stage for a pitched battle between the two, and the debate has spilled over into other mediums, too. Each presents his own views on beauty and art in an impassioned way, occasionally descending into ad hominem, and naturally coming no closer to a resolution on the matter at hand. [Read more →]