Mark Hansard continues his series on Faith and Reason, exploring a key twentieth- and twenty-first century philosopher. For the previous entries in the series, and other work by Mark, click here. In my last entry, I introduced Alvin Plantinga, listed some of his contributions to analytic philosophy, and described his view of Reformed Epistemology. In this entry, we will look briefly at his evolutionary argument against naturalism.[1] Several thinkers in the 20th Century, including C. S. Lewis, have described … [Read more...] about Faith and Reason Part 7: Plantinga, Continued
Christ and the Academy
Science Corner: Finding the Levers in Biomedicine
Recently I wrote about a webinar with Francis Su in which he discussed his career and the wisdom he has shared with students and peers. He mentioned the idea of finding the levers in your field, the opportunities to effect change. Last week, NIH Director and BioLogos founder Francis Collins announced that he would no longer accept invitations to conferences with all-male panels. Even though it will likely require minimal effort on his part, given his position he can likely apply significant leverage with a decision like … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Finding the Levers in Biomedicine
Faith and Reason Part 6: Plantinga
Mark Hansard continues his series on Faith and Reason, exploring a key twentieth- and twenty-first century philosopher. For the previous entries in the series, and other work by Mark, click here. Alvin Plantinga (1932- ), is a contemporary Christian philosopher who has had an enormous impact on modern philosophy of religion in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and arguments for God's existence. For many years he was the John A. O'Brien professor of philosophy at Notre Dame. He received his Ph.D. in … [Read more...] about Faith and Reason Part 6: Plantinga
Science Book Review: The Big Nine – How the Tech Titans & Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity
Amy Webb, author of The Big Nine – How the Tech Titans & Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity, describes herself as a futurist, a job I wasn't entirely sure actually existed outside of science fiction. Sure, plenty of people reason about the future and some do so in rigorous and quantitative fashion, but often in very narrow and specialized areas--predicting stock markets or elections or planning for consumer trends. Futurism strikes me as needing more of a generalist, and Webb seems to fit the bill. She takes … [Read more...] about Science Book Review: The Big Nine – How the Tech Titans & Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity
Science Corner: Portrait of an Emerging Scholar
This post discusses the film Tolkien. I don't think there is anything in this film to spoil, given that it depicts events from a century ago, but consider yourself advised. Tolkien, a biographical film about author and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien, is admittedly a stretch from my usual science-themed fare. But when I realized the advertising of the film underplayed its focus on the early days of Tolkien's scholarly career, I figured I should bring it to the attention of this community. Consider it the inverse of … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Portrait of an Emerging Scholar