Nietzsche and the Death of God
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about Friedrich Nietzsche's views on God, then flashes back to the time of Plato, before moving forward again and exploring the question: what happens to a culture which is organized around the notion of God as a sin...
Philosophical Theology
Philosopher Stephen Toulmin discusses the philosophical theology views of Thomas Aquinas, Gottfried Leibniz, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Professor Toulmin relates an amusing comment from Wittgenstein, who once said when someone asked him if he believed...
Rationalism
Philosopher Stephen Toulmin talks about rationalism, concluding that there have always been two driving forces behind it. On one hand, Professor Toulmin says, it comes from the desire to make theories as elegant as possible, which leads people to ma...
Science and Human Life
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus argues that even if scientists come to a clear cosmological understanding of the universe, science can't teach us what kind of thing a human being is or what constitutes a good life.
Language and Religion
Philosopher John Searle talks about what he calls "the language game," and how it's used today with regard to religion and God. Professor Searle says that many people go through the motions with religion, using language to express true belief when, ...
Darwin and Human Nature
Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus talks about Charles Darwin, who wrote at about the same time as Kierkegaard, but wasn't drawn in by the same existentialist concerns. Darwin believed there is something like a human nature, even if unplanned by God. In fac...
Is There One Truth?
Philosopher Richard Rorty argues that the notion of there being one truth is "...a bad left-over of Greek metaphysics and Christian theology." Professor Rorty says that there are "lots of descriptions of the universe," and states that "..in the phys...
Does God Exist?: Problem of Evil and God's Existence, The
A question that haunts many people is how can evil exist in a world where an all-perfect, all-powerful Being also resides? Seven eminent scholars share a thoughtful range of responses to this question, from it is "blasphemous to suppose that we can ...
Fatalism (Part One)
Philosopher Stephen Toulmin traces the evolution of the concept of fatalism. In the modern world, Professor Toulmin explains, the term is often used to express the feeling that people don't have control over what they do or what happens to them. In ...
Self in Historical Context (Part One), The
Philosopher Charles Taylor talks about the ways in which the concept of "the self" has changed over time. He begins by talking about Plato and then moves through other major philosophers, including Augustine and Descartes, pointing out that there ha...