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Agnosticism vs atheism, redux
Jacques Rousseau Jacques Rousseau 10 years ago

John Lennox - mathematician and Christian apologist - is in town again, and giving talks at UCT, Stellenbosch and in Johannesburg. I've twice had the pleasure (or at least, experience) of chatting to him at length regarding his views on whether there… Read More

 
A discussion on some basic principles of argumentation
Jacques Rousseau Jacques Rousseau 10 years ago

Earlier today, a friend and (rather popular!) radio host invited me into the studio for a half-hour conversation on critical thinking - how we should do it, and how we fail. For those interested in the topic, the Soundcloud podcast is embedded below.… Read More

The Responsible Believer - my #TAM2014 talk
Jacques Rousseau Jacques Rousseau 10 years ago

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to present a paper at The Amaz!ng Meeting, held in Las Vegas. Here's the YouTube video of my presentation, with the text pasted below that. It addresses concerns I have regarding epistemic humility and prud… Read More

 
Children, religion, and distinguishing fact from fiction
Jacques Rousseau Jacques Rousseau 10 years ago

Even if children exposed to religion have difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction, do we know that this is a problem? Not on the basis of a study that's currently doing the (misrepresentation) rounds. Read More

 
Has #trolleyology gone off the rails?
Jacques Rousseau Jacques Rousseau 10 years ago

Is the philosophical thought experiment known as the trolley problem worthless in understanding psychology? Not if a qualifying criterion is realism, no. Read More

 

Most recent articles

A culture of dying

Posted by on May 24, 2013 in Philosophy | 0 comments

Even though we’re not yet at the halfway mark of the annual initiation ceremonies in one South African province, as many people have already died there as in the Boston bombings. Yet by contrast to the bombings, the initiation deaths were easy to anticipate and prevent.

Deciding when to die

Posted by on May 18, 2013 in Atheism, Philosophy | 0 comments

Death should not be trivialised, so it’s understandable that some of us are wary of legislation that allows for assisted suicide. But if it’s the dignity of life that we’re hoping to preserve, it’s unclear how denying suffering people their final choice promotes a sort of dignity worth preserving.