This is the second article in my new series exploring the relationship between atheism and various other commonly associated ideas. In the first article, I explore the link between atheism and skepticism. In this article, we look at the relationship between atheism and materialism. What is the relationship between atheism and the philosophy of materialism? […]
materialism
Materialism and Consumerism: What’s the Difference?
A Limited Appetite for Wonder
There is no doubt that Richard Dawkins has an appetite for wonder. The title of his memoir tells us so. If that’s too cheeky, then let me hasten to add that I have no doubt he does have an appetite for wonder. While I haven’t read Dawkins’ memoir, I have read several of his other […]
Reductionism Propaganda? On the wily ways of the open-minded dogmatist
One of my readers, Mark, forwarded this short video “What is life? Is death real?” and asked for my comment. It’s well worth your time to invest the five minutes to watch it: This is a slickly produced video with a lot of good information. But it is not simply a neutral recounting of the […]
“I got a Dyson”: Notes from the frontlines of Black Friday
Consumerism in its purest formulation is not about acquiring particular material goods. Rather, it is about the act of acquiring itself. I saw a great illustration of this principle yesterday when I read an account of one woman’s experience at a Black Friday sale. According to the article in The Guardian, Louise Haggerty lined up at midnight hoping […]
Why it is good to love material things
The singer BJ Thomas had a minor hit with the 1970s song “Using things and loving people”. Whether or not people resonate with the song, I suspect virtually all will agree with the sentiment: People are the proper objects of love. Things (i.e. non-people) are not. Indeed, I myself have appealed to this song and […]
Two visions of the Good: Cadillac vs. Ford
You may have seen this Cadillac commercial which aired during the Academy Awards. Consider it a one minute introduction to the gospel of consumerism. Just this week Ford replied with a parody of the Cadillac commercial, one which offers a very different conception of the Good. Granted, it is still a car commercial. But taken […]
Materialist epiphanies, reductive delusions
I was only a few pages into John Allen Paulos’ book Irreligion: A mathematician explains why the arguments for God just don’t add up (New York: Hill and Wang, 2008) when I came across Paulos’ extraordinary description of his childhood conversion to “materialism”. He writes: “if there is an inborn disposition to materialism (in the sense […]
Is naturalism in crisis? A review of “Naturalism: A Critical Analysis”
William Lane Craig and J.P. Moreland, eds. Naturalism: A Critical Analysis. London: Routledge, 2000. Most of the greatest theologians have not only been conversant with the philosophical movements current in their time (e.g. Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism), but have been highly articulate expositors and critics of them. However, most theologians today appear singularly uninterested in, if not wholly […]
How does the failure to define naturalism affect Lowder’s argument for naturalism from the history of science?
In retrospect, it may have been good to put this at the end of my previous article. But better late than never. How does Lowder’s failure to define naturalism adequately affect his argument for naturalism from the history of science? To put it mildly, it doesn’t do it any favors. First, let’s recount the argument […]
Not even wrong: The many problems with Naturalism
The phrase “not even wrong” is commonly used as a quip directed at an allegedly scientific claim which is not falsifiable. More generally, it is used as a description of any statement or question which is so off-base, which assumes so much baggage, that one cannot begin to engage it on its own terms. An […]
Prejudice against supernatural persons?
Over the last few days I’ve been having an exchange with Jeffrey Jay Lowder on his argument that the history of science provides prima facie support for naturalism over-against theism. I engaged in the discussion by bracketing the question of what naturalism is. I did so as a division of labor with the intent to […]
Consumerism as Religion
Tomorrow I fly to Rio de Janeiro to deliver an address on the topic of happpiness. As I have written the talk I have chosen to focus on two different, rival accounts of happiness: consumerism and Christian personalism. In preparing for my address I have been struck both by the overlap between consumerism and Christianity on key […]
Russell’s Teapot: An analogy worthy of a first year undergraduate
I have been asked to explain what is wrong with Bertrand Russell’s Teapot Analogy. Unfortunately, I can’t respond by reproducing the argument of Peter van Inwagen’s paper given at the Society of Christian Philosophers conference since (a) I daydreamed through part of the talk and (b) I recycled the handout. (Don’t get me wrong. It was definitely […]
