Atheism and its Philosophical Roots | Graham Oppy and Joe Schmid | The Socratic Sessions | Ep #11

📝 Viewer Note: This dialogue was originally captured and aired on "When Belief Dies" in Q4 2022/Q1 2023. Episodes 1, 2, and 11 are the sole remnants from my original series.
🔍 Overview: This episode with Graham Oppy and Joe Schmid (‪@MajestyofReason‬) explores atheism's philosophical roots, and what this means for those of us who engage with it.
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🗣️ Highlights
[Highlight 1]: How should atheism be defined and how does this compare to how it's often defined on social media?
[Highlight 2]: How and when has atheism arisen within historical cultures and philosophy of religion?
[Highlight 3]: Does atheism entail: certainty, nihilism, moral antirealism or nondualism?
🕒 Timestamps
0:00 - Introduction
1:40 - Defining Terms
4:13 - Weak vs Strong Atheism
7:53 - Atheism's Historical Philosophical Tradition
14:50 - The UK in the 17th Century
16:49 - New Atheism's Philosophical Impact
21:28 - Atheism and Culture
30:01 - Atheism as a Worldview (Morality, Ethics & Purpose)
37:31 - Certainty vs Credence
48:55 - Meaning and Purpose
56:30 - Nihilism
1:05:20 - Atheism, Science and Philosophy
1:13:21 - Analytic Thinkers and Atheistic Philosophy
1:18:34 - Common Mistakes about Atheism
1:25:29 - Resources
1:29:07 - Closing Remarks
📚 Episode Resources (affiliate links where possible - thanks!)
Logic and Theism by Jordan Howard Sobel: amzn.to/4bF8BQY
Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments in Philosophy - Edited by Graham Oppy and Joseph Koterski: amzn.to/3QMmGnC
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume: amzn.to/44mAvP7
The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God by J. L. Mackie: amzn.to/44OzbVA
Graham Oppy:
Twitter: / oppygraham
Monash University Page: philpeople.org/profiles/graha...
Atheism: The Basics by Graham Oppy: amzn.to/4d1P4vu
Joe Schmid:
Twitter: / majestyofreason
Website: www.josephschmid.com/
Majesty of Reason (KZbin): / @majestyofreason
The Majesty of Reason: A Short Guide to Critical Thinking in Philosophy by Joseph C. Schmid: amzn.to/3TlJMDi
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🚀 Thanks for Tuning In! Let's keep the conversation going.
#religion #reason #atheism #theism #god #philosophy

[@rolandwatts3218]

Beautiful discussion.

[@roberto_j]

Great vid! I see myself constantly recommending it to folks just starting their PoR journey. It just covers all the usual common perspectives and confusions in v succint way I've never seen elsewhere. Thx for making it happen

[@SamuelDevis89]

Delighted to hear that - thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy future content as well 🍻🎉

[@PlaylistWatching1234]

@27:11 ahahaha

[@jamesturnerpaulthethrids]

@graham.. is there a general consensus among experts that analytic philosophy has not been solved/ can’t be solved and is there any strong opposition to this claim ?

[@PlaylistWatching1234]

What an ASMR opening!

[@SamuelDevis89]

Ha 🫠

[@jamesturnerpaulthethrids]

@joe, when you say at premise 1: God either has reasons or he does not have reasons. Could you clarify if you think god is bound by a classical sense of logic in this argument. How has it been ruled out that god isn’t or couldn’t implement paraconsistent logic. Accordingly people could reject premise one using this route ?

[@anthonydesimone502]

Are there any theists that assert that? Do they do it consistently? My concern is the likely scenario of using classical logic when it is convenient and switching to a paraconsistent framework when that is convenient without any real reason or guiding principle.

[@philosophyofreligion]

I like graham’s “atheism and agnosticism” more than “atheism: the basics”

[@SamuelDevis89]

I've not actually read that one, though it looks like a quick read at 70 pages - I'll pick it up :)

[@philosophyofreligion]

@@SamuelDevis89 I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[@seanrodrigues12]

Using "gods" doesn't make sense to me. I don't believe there are gods either. But I'm a theist. It comes across as an effort to avoid the question. The question is: do you believe in God? not: do you believe in gods? No one's interested in the second question.

[@andresdubon2608]

Well, that's just because of your Christian bias. That's one of the awful things about Christianity, the absolute genocide of pther people's culture is certainly unparalleled.

[@shassett79]

Which god? How do you justify monotheism?

[@calebsmith7179]

Ignoring polytheism doesn't magically make it go away.

[@seanrodrigues12]

​@@shassett79 but that's a different question, it's regarding proofs.

[@seanrodrigues12]

​@@calebsmith7179are you saying you're a polytheist? Or did it go away?

[@spartakos3178]

Foolishness. The fool says in His heart there is no God.

[@rolandwatts3218]

Atheist here. Maybe the author of those words was having a bad day with a local atheist and so he lashed out, in a nasty manner. Can you explain why atheists are necessarily fools?

[@spartakos3178]

@@rolandwatts3218 What has been created points to a creator. The destructive fruits of a godless worldview as seen by the scars left upon human history by both Nazis and Communists. The mental health crises brought to modern civilization by the muddied confused mess that is post-modernist thinking infused with critical theory. And one could go on.

[@TehhGrubzy]

What evidence do you have for your claim?

[@rolandwatts3218]

Maybe the author of those words was having a bad day with a local atheist and so he lashed out, in a nasty manner. Can you explain why atheists are necessarily fools?

[@shassett79]

The fool who wants to attack people who don't believe the bible quotes the bible to say they are foolish.