Currents in NaturalismMarch - April 2009~ Center for Naturalism Newsletter ~ |
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Heading Off
the Revolution -
in how we might reform criminal justice
in light of determinism. ~
Democratizing Success
- stating the obvious in service to equality. [back to contents] _________________________________________________~ Center for Inquiry's World Congress on science, public policy, and the planetary community, April 9-12, Bethesda, MD. ~ American Humanist Association conference, June 5-7, Phoenix, AZ. ~ Freethought events, courtesy of the Secular Web and Jason Torpy. ~ Psychologist Roy Baumeister worries about determinism, but needn't. ~ Susan Blackmore debunks free will in the Guardian, suggests implications for criminal justice. ~ Neuroscientist Martha Farah and philosopher Nancey Murphy defend the physicalism of neuroscience as a viable metaphysical outlook. ~ Experimental philosopher Thomas Nadelhoffer on the advisability of publicizing the death of free will, at The Situationist. ~ Interview with Dale McGowan on raising kids without supernatural beliefs. ~ Theist Ken Miller and naturalist Massimo Pigluicci debate whether belief in God is compatible with science, and the virtues of faith. ~ Beingism: naturalism by another name, including skepticism about free will and its ethical implications. ~ Encountering naturalism with the Infidel Guy. ~ Tamler Sommers suggests that Richard Dawkins equivocates on the reality of free will. More on Dawkins' views about free will, responsibility and punishment is here. ~ Highly recommended books, to be reviewed:
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It would be nice if a worldview were not only true, but livable. As yet, there aren’t many thorough-going naturalists to provide data, but a hardy few have reported back on the livability of naturalism. It mostly seems to pass the test, see Living in light of naturalism. Below are some updates from Alice in Australia at the Naturalism Philosophy Forum, who describes some of the practical and psychological advantages of taking a consistently cause and effect view of ourselves, and the understandable suspicions many folks have about it. She also describes applying naturalism to child-rearing, as does Stephen, another member of the Forum. If a worldview can pass that test, then clearly it’s a winner! Enjoy…
Alice writes:
Getting Along:
It’s always salutary to be evaluated by a strong critic of your position, someone who doesn’t share your preconceptions and assumptions and who therefore is able to detect weaknesses in your premises and arguments. Being an advocate of a worldview is to be biased in its favor, and it’s good to achieve some virtual distance from your commitments by looking at them through the eyes of an opponent.
Tom Gilson at Thinking Christian was kind enough to offer a critique of Reality and its rivals, an article that discusses the justifications for intersubjective empiricism (exemplified by science) as our most reliable way of knowing, how empiricism tends to support naturalism, and the ethical obligation we have to one another to be empiricists (and thus, perhaps, naturalists). He then invited me to a debate in three parts, which you can read here.
I won’t reprise the arguments since the disagreements are perhaps less important than the tone of the discourse, which was pretty amicable. Since it’s unlikely that unanimity on the fundamental questions that worldviews address will ever be achieved, it’s crucial that worldview adversaries share a belief in live-and-let-live tolerance, otherwise things can get very nasty, as the history of ideological conflict shows. They should agree that maintaining an irenic philosophical pluralism is more important than achieving world domination for their worldview, because that’s simply not achievable given human diversity. Better we disagree peacefully than try to enforce an untenable uniformity...
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~ Naturalism Meetups - monthly get-togethers for those wanting to explore and meme naturalism. ~ Philosophy Cafe @ Harvard Book Store - monthly philosophical discussions on any number of topics; moderated, with refreshments. No worldview commitment required. [back to contents] _______________________________________________________
For those interested in learning more about naturalism, or in participating in outreach, research, and writing in collaboration with the CFN, here are a few resources, online and otherwise.
Causality Consulting - practical philosophical consultation that's science-based, short-term, and results-driven. Encountering Naturalism: A Worldview and Its Uses - "the little orange book of naturalism" is in its second printing, available at Amazon. About the book, see
Naturalism: The Next Step for Humanists? - online video presentation about naturalism for the Freethought Association of Western Michigan; works as a spoken introduction to the philosophy and its implications. Applied Naturalism Group - a forum to explore the personal and social applications of naturalism; membership by application.
Naturalism Philosophy Forum - to facilitate the investigation of scientific naturalism, its assumptions, structure, and logical implications; open membership.
Religious Naturalism - an online group explores the spiritual implications of naturalism, see Religious Naturalism and its associated Yahoo group.
Psychological Self-Help - an excellent resource, see in particular two chapters on determinism applied to issues of self-acceptance and self-control.
Cause and Effect World - a smart and skeptical take on this crazy thing called life with host Samantha Clemens; her radio shows, including one on naturalism, are linked here.
Garden of Forking Paths - a free will/moral agency blog with knowledgeable contributors on the leading edge of current academic debates.
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