The Uncertainty Podcast

Phil Halper joins me to discuss his forthcoming book, Battle of the Big Bang: New Tales of Our Cosmic Origins , and whether William Lane Craig misrepresents the empirical evidence for a beginning of the universe. If you enjoy what I do and want to continue seeing interesting people on the channel, super pretty please consider donating, click here . To pre-order Phil's book, click here . To watch P...

Perry Hendricks, author of the recently published book Skeptical Theism, joins me to discuss one of the main theistic strategies for responding to the problem of evil, the problem of reconciling the evil and suffering in the world with the existence of an all-loving God. After outlining that response, Perry and I go through the four strongest objections to it: divine deception, Climenhaga's conund...

Dr. Randal Rauser lays out the case against attempts to defend a literal interpretation of the biblical passages surrounding the slaughter of the Canaanites. We discuss the purported moral difference between slaughter and driving a people group from their homes, hyperbole in the Ancient Near East, and what a Christian is to do if they believe that a literal reading of the Canaanite conquest narrat...

Rabbis Elie Feder and Aaron Zimmer, cohosts of the 'Physics to God' podcast, join me to discuss their project in showing how physics provides strong evidence for the existence of God. We discuss several aspects of the fine-tuning argument - whether a deeper law of physics can remove fine-tuning, the Achilles' heel of the multiverse, and whether God is a simple or complex hypothesis. To access Aaro...

Dr. Richard Carrier and I discuss his article, 'Ten Ways the World Would be Different if God Existed,' Carrier's case that we can turn ten theistic arguments on their head and use them to prove atheism. We naively thought we had time for all ten, but in 1.5 hours, we only discussed three - still, we had a substantive, spirited debate about the merits of theism and naturalism that I hope you'll enj...

Dr. Tim Maudlin, professor of philosophy at NYU, joins me to discuss the difference between quantum and classical mechanics, that various "interpretations" of quantum mechanics, why Sean Carroll is wrong to suppose that the many-worlds interpretation is better than all the rest, what Einstein's theories of special and general relativity tell us about the nature of time, and how philosophy and scie...

Dr. Luke Barnes joins me to discuss whether empirical evidence indicates that the universe began to exist, and how theism and naturalism fare as explanations for the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life. To purchase Barnes' book-length discussion of the fine-tuning argument, click here . To read Barnes' article on the fine-tuning argument, click here . This is a public episode. If you'...

Joe Schmid joins me to discuss the best arguments for God's existence, and the best arguments against. We explored several nuances of the cosmological argument (for God) and the argument from gratuitous animal suffering (against God). To access Joe's YouTube channel, Majesty of Reason, click here . To see a list of Joe's publications, click here . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss...

Dr. Graham Oppy, professor of philosophy at Monash University and author of the wide-ranging exploring of arguments for God's existence Arguing about Gods published by Cambridge University Press, joins me to discuss the relationship between science and religion, morality and God's existence, the future of philosophy of religion, and what the point of philosophy is in the first place. For m...

Dr. Max Baker-Hytch, tutor in philosophy at Oxford, joins me to discuss his recent published research on near-death experiences (NDEs) and their evidential significance, whether they provide reason to believe in an afterlife, and the strengths and weaknesses of natural explanations for these remarkable phenomena. To access Max's publication on NDEs, click ⁠here⁠ . A compendium of Max's pub...

Hans Halvorson, professor of philosophy at Princeton, joins me to discuss the relationship between God and science, science and philosophy, and the role that philosophy has to play in our world today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mileskdonahue.substack.com/subscribe Get full access to Miles K. Donahue at miles...

Alex Malpass, former lecturer in philosophy at the University of Bristol become software engineer, joins me to debate the kalam cosmological argument: the argument that because the universe began to exist, there must be a Creator that brought it into being. Malpass is one of the most articulate and careful critics of this line of thought, so it was a pleasure to discuss it with him. To access Alex...

I discuss a new kind of fine-tuning argument for God's existence with Dr. Robin Collins, professor of philosophy at Messiah University, one centered on the remarkable ability of human beings to discover the universe around us. Were the constants of physics altered in the smallest way, our capacity to understand the universe, our very ability to do science in the first place, would be remarkabl...

In my first ever interview for the show, I discuss and debate the fine-tuning argument with philosopher Neil Manson, a professor at the University of Mississippi. We discuss several lesser examined issues with the fine-tuning argument: how we could ever know what kind of universe God would likely create, theistic versus naturalistic multiverses, and whether, in the end, fine-tuning gives us any re...