Serious Inquiries Only

Part 2 of my discussion with author CJ Werleman. His new book is Atheists Can’t Be Republicans, If Facts and Evidence Matter. http://www.amazon.com/Atheists-Cant-Be-Republicans-Evidence/dp/1908675276 Atheistically Speaking ventures into rare political territory! This discussion is sure to spur opinions, make sure to leave them on the facebook page or on the website! The post AS60: Atheists Can’t B...

PZ Myers has really lost me. I had no previous reason to dislike him until he wrote the following two posts: http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/08/12/robin-williams-brings-joy-to-the-hearts-of-journalists-and-politicians-once-again/ http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/08/13/even-atheists-have-sacred-cows/ Plus, we welcome back the great CJ Werleman! He has a recent book about why...

I’m doing something new here on Atheistically Speaking! I’m summarizing and reading selections from the first reading of The Portable Atheist. I really enjoyed doing this and I think it could be a great chance for us all to learn some new stuff together and be exposed to more brilliant writing. Please let me know … Continue reading AS58: The Portable Atheist, Part 1 → The post AS58: The Portable A...

Richard Dawkins Twitter Explosion What in the world is Richard Dawkins Twitter up to?  As you likely will have read/heard by now, Dawkins tweeted several tweets that had people in uproar. Essentially, he said that asserting x is bad but y is worse is not an endorsement of x. Why was this such a problem? … Continue reading AS57: Richard Dawkins Twitter Explosion → The post AS57: Richard Dawkins Twi...

Scathing Atheist on Israel-Palestine Scathing Atheist Noah joins me to help wade through the incredibly polarized world of Israel-Palestine commentary. It’s likely you already have a staunch opinion on this conflict, if you’re anything like mine and Noah’s Facebook/Twitter friends. The focus of this show is to do my best to take an unbiased approach … Continue reading AS56: Scathing Atheist on the...

Scathing Atheist on Israel-Palestine Scathing Atheist Noah joins me to help wade through the incredibly polarized world of Israel-Palestine commentary. It’s likely you already have a staunch opinion on this conflict, if you’re anything like mine and Noah’s Facebook/Twitter friends. The focus of this show is to do my best to take an unbiased approach … Continue reading AS55: Scathing Atheist on the...

Free Will with Ryan Born This week we’ve got Ryan Born, who you may remember as the winner of the Sam Harris essay contest. Ryan is a philosopher who runs the blog http://pointofcontroversy.com. Last time we spoke, Ryan had a ton to teach us about Moral Philosophy. This time though, we’re here to discuss a very … Continue reading AS54: Free Will with Ryan Born, Part 2 → The post AS54: Free Will wi...

Free Will with Ryan Born This week we’ve got Ryan Born, who you may remember as the winner of the Sam Harris essay contest. Ryan is a philosopher who runs the blog http://pointofcontroversy.com. Last time we spoke, Ryan had a ton to teach us about Moral Philosophy. This time though, we’re here to discuss a … Continue reading AS53: Free Will with Ryan Born → The post AS53: Free Will with Ryan Born...

Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cult? This week I have two guests on the show with the experience to answer this important question. First there’s Mike of the Digression Sessions Podcast, http://digressionsessions.com/. Mike was a very precocious alcoholic who was able to hit rock bottom at the impressive age of 21.  Just in time to actually legally … Continue reading AS52: Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cul...

Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cult? This week I have two guests on the show with the experience to answer this important question. First there’s Mike of the Digression Sessions Podcast, http://digressionsessions.com/. Mike was a very precocious alcoholic who was able to hit rock bottom at the impressive age of 21.  Just in time to actually legally … Continue reading AS51: Is Alcoholics Anonymous a Cul...

I continue the discussion of free will, covering a ton more territory. The debate between Harris and Dennett got a little bit hostile and I wish Dennett had written another response to Harris. In this episode I’ve got tons of thought experiments that I think outline the difficulties of the problem. I think I have … Continue reading AS50: Free Will, Part 2 of 2.5 → The post AS50: Free Will, Part 2...

This week I’m going to attempt to tackle the topic of free will! This is a favorite of mine. Do we have free will? Who was right in the debate between Harris and Dennett? Does determinism by definition negate free will or is there some way that they are, one might say, compatible? This is … Continue reading AS49: Free Will, Part 1 of …. → The post AS49: Free Will, Part 1 of …. appeared first on At...

This week we have Justin Schieber who I’m sure all of my listeners know from Reasonable Doubts, http://doubtcast.org! His website though is http://Justinsweh.com where you’ll find some great debate videos and other content. For Thursday’s show we ventured deeper into counter apologetics and religious philosophy. I loved this discussion! Don’t miss it! The post AS48: Nonresistant Unbeliever Justin...

This week we have Justin Schieber who I’m sure all of my listeners know from Reasonable Doubts, http://doubtcast.org! His website though is http://Justinsweh.com where you’ll find some great debate videos and other content. Justin is a perfect guest for Atheistically Speaking because he brings a calm, well-read and meticulous approach to religious philosophy. Tune in as … Continue reading AS47: No...

Is consequentialism the obvious choice for moral theory? Well not according to most philosophers. But then again, no one theory is the obvious choice for philosophers. They are split 3 ways. What are we to make of this? Hear Thomas’s thoughts on moral philosophy and consequentialism in particular in light of last week’s episodes featuring … Continue reading AS46: Moral Philosophy → The post AS46:...

We’ve gone a ton of shows in a row with demanding, intellectual topics. While this is definitely my favorite thing to do, occasionally it’s good to mix it up a little! So today is a more lighthearted topic: soccer. Is Ann Coulter right when she says it’s a liberal conspiracy to ruin America? No. It’s … Continue reading AS45: Religion and Sports → The post AS45: Religion and Sports appeared first o...

We continue our talk with the winner of Sam Harris’s essay contest, Ryan Born! We have a very enlightening discussion of philosophy, specifically moral philosophy. Is Sam Harris right when he says that science can determine moral values? Is wellbeing really the bottom line objective in terms of morality? These are some of the many questions … Continue reading AS44: The Moral Landscape, with Ryan B...

This week we have the winner of Sam Harris’s essay contest, Ryan Born! We have a very enlightening discussion of philosophy, specifically moral philosophy. Is Sam Harris right when he says that science can determine moral values? Is wellbeing really the bottom line objective in terms of morality? These are some of the many questions … Continue reading AS43: The Moral Landscape, with Ryan Born → Th...

On today’s show we have The Moody Atheist for a first ever Atheistically Speaking book review segment! It’s not just a simple review though, we go in depth into A Manual for Creating Atheists, by Peter Boghossian. Is it a bit insulting to believers? Is it a little too evangelical in nature or is it … Continue reading AS42: Creating Atheists with Tracey Moody → The post AS42: Creating Atheists with...

We’re joined by Hemant Mehta! We talk about a range of topics, first focusing on what it means to be friendly as an atheist and how that plays out for Hemant. Then, we talk about the recent Ken Ham related incident where Hemant’s book, The Young Atheist’s Survival Guide, was involved in a bit of controversy. … Continue reading AS41: Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta! → The post AS41: Friendly Atheist...

We continue the conversation with ex-Jehovah’s Witness Harley, @secularlad. Such a gripping story. I can’t even imagine having to go through the loss of friends and family to the extent that Harley has simply because he no longer buys into absolute nonsense. Make sure to check out http://atheisticallyspeaking.com/trial for a free month of premium content! The post AS40: Ex-Witness Harley appeared...

First we have a follow up with Blake from last week, fresh off his appearance on Dogma Debate. Then, we begin a very gripping and engaging interview with Harley, an ex-Jehovah’s Witness who has somewhat recently come out atheist. This is no easy task and there have been many challenges and heartbreaks for him along … Continue reading AS39: Blake Follow Up, Ex-Witness Harley → The post AS39: Blake...

I continue my debate with Blake Giunta. Can an immaterial mind even exist? Seems ridiculous to me, but let’s see what Blake has to say about that! Then, I do a bit of a post-mortem on the debate, as well as discuss several listener comments. Thanks for all the feedback and participation! Blake’s impressive website: http://treesearch.org/ … Continue reading AS38: Debate with Blake Giunta, Part 2 →...

This week I have an apologist on for my second debate! Blake Giunta was a recent guest on Dogma Debate where he attempted to talk philosophy while 3 people completely rejected the very legitimacy of philosophy. I’ve promised him that won’t happen here though! Blake’s impressive website.   Blake’s twitter: @BlakeGiunta The post AS37: Debate with Blake Giunta appeared first on Atheistically Speaking...

In this episode we finish off the interview with the great Massimo Pigliucci. There’s much more back and forth in this part, which was a lot of fun for me. We discuss Sam Harris and how exactly we make moral decisions. After that, I have a lot to say on the entire interview. I think … Continue reading AS36: Scientism, with Massimo Pigliucci, Part 2 → The post AS36: Scientism, with Massimo Pigliucc...