"God or Blind Nature?": Philosophers Debate the Evidence [Online Debate]

Dr. Witmer asked me to pass along a link to this online debate to all of you, as he plans to mention it in his talk this Wednesday, and he thought it would interest some people. It is a "four-part series of debates" concerning whether "naturalism or theism is more likely to be true given different kinds of evidence." For more information, click "Read full post" below. Also, don't forget about our meeting this Wednesday at 8pm. We'll have cookies...

Here is a fuller description of the debate series, as sent to us by Internet Infidels:

On July 1st, Internet Infidels released the first installment ("Mind and Will") of a four-part series of debates called "God or Blind Nature? Philosophers Debate the Evidence." This "Great Debate" concerns which of naturalism or theism is more likely to be true given different kinds of evidence. We just released the second installment ("Evil and Evolution") on September 1st, and the third and fourth installments ("Science and the Cosmos" and "Faith and Uncertainty") will be released on November 1st and January 1st, respectively.

In the first installment Andrew Melnyk defends physicalism about the human mind, the truth of which he takes to be some evidence against theism, while Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro defend substance dualism and libertarian free will, which they take to undermine naturalism. In section two Paul Draper defends his argument from the biological role of pain and pleasure against the existence of God, while Alvin Plantinga defends his famous argument that evolutionary naturalism is self-defeating. Each contributor critiques the opening case of the other, and each defends his opening case against its critique.

We are soliciting questions to pass on to the contributors on either of the two sides of these debates as part of Q&A sessions to be published online later, and so would appreciate it if you would inform your students in the appropriate classes about this interactive dialogue. We are particularly hopeful that the concerns of average readers will be represented in the question and answer sessions.

Again, the link can be found here. See you this Wednesday!