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Tag Archives: the ontological mystery
Doubt Concerning Ultimate Claims
If someone is making a claim about the ultimate origin of things, and you doubt the claim, you might bring up Herbert Spencer. Spencer was a 19th century philosopher and popularizer of Charles Darwin’s ideas, and for Spencer, beneath all … Continue reading
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Tagged agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, critical thinking, God, philosophy, reason, the ontological mystery, theism
1 Comment
Sink Eye, Space Eye, and The Empty One
“Lia-Triple M” (a . k. a. liammm) got a curious result from taking a photo of her sink draining: __________ __________ It’s not just that we’re primed for recognizing faces and eyes; it’s the bottomlessness of the above image that unsettles: … Continue reading
What the Lightning Said: My Definition of Art
Art, by my definition, is a report of what the lightning said. It’s bound up with the ontological mystery (the mystery of being itself); an artist’s attempt to represent to others an experience of that mystery (what it feels like … Continue reading
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Tagged art, creative writing, definition, giorgione, God, lightning, mark twain, meaning, religion, stephen greenblatt, the ontological mystery, William Blake, writing
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The Empty Box: The Problem with a Personal God
I don’t dismiss the idea that God is a person. I dismiss the idea that you or I, under normal circumstances, can ever know whether or not God is a person and actually is relating to us, at any given … Continue reading
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Tagged apologetics, atheism, atheist, existentialism, faith, God, Jesus, monolith, prayer, psychology, reason, the ontological mystery
10 Comments
Burdens of Proof: Why I’m (Still) an Agnostic
Who has the burden of proof on the God question—atheists or theists? I say neither because, when you raise an existential question, the truth is the whole. Nobody gets a free ride or has a prior right to win an … Continue reading
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Tagged agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, atheist, God, jerry coyne, Jesus, ontology, philosophy, Richard Dawkins, science, the ontological mystery
44 Comments
The Problem of Pure Consciousness
. Sunlight rivers through the shimmering Sycamore tree, pools on the ground, Makes of shadow a living shoreline. I vibrate there. The juggler’s balls are Frightfully high in the rarified air. Eight Sheriff’s deputies in four cars came, but They did … Continue reading
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Tagged Buddha, consciousness, enlightenment, life, literature, love, poems, poetry, Santi Tafarella, the ontological mystery, yoga
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Are Science and Poetry Compatable? Do We Want Them To Be?
It’s sometimes suggested that science and poetry are two ways of looking at the world that really don’t have many points of contact. But, curiously, below is one of the world’s greatest living literary critics, Helen Vendler of Harvard, explaining how her early training … Continue reading
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Tagged Daniel Dennett, deepities, helen vendler, poetry, religion, Richard Dawkins, science, the ontological mystery, william carlos williams
1 Comment
Today’s Question: Is the Goal of Existence an Epiphany?
Is the goal of existence, the end, an epiphany—a vision, as it were of God—as in “I see you”? Or is the goal of existence rational coping with passing appearances, seeking to enjoy one’s existential freedom and independence from the (opaque and … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, consumerism, death, epiphany, God, life, love, near-death experiences, the ground of being, the ontological mystery
17 Comments
Ron Rosenbaum separates the sheep from the asses with one question: why is there something rather than nothing?
In a recent Slate article, Ron Rosenbaum affirms his agnosticism against both theists and atheists, and offers atheists in particular a “show me the money” question: Rosenbaum wants atheists to write and tell him how it is that something came from nothing: … Continue reading
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Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, atheist, gabriel marcel, God, New Atheists, philosophy, Richard Dawkins, the ontological mystery
6 Comments
The great I don’t know? An agnostic develops serious doubts about his agnosticism, and starts affirming “the great I don’t know”
At Andrew Sullivan’s blog today, an agnostic nurse writes movingly about his hospice work: I came into this experience as an agnostic who often had leanings to atheism, but while working with hospice patients my faith in something has been … Continue reading
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Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, atheism, atheist, death, life, near-death experiences, religion, the ontological mystery
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How I Combine Richard Rorty’s Atheist Pragmatism with My “Spiritual Agnosticism”
It ain’t easy, and it requires a bit of Kant and Kierkegaard to get there, but below is what I believe at this point in my life, and how I have arrived at believing it. First, here is what I … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, being, God, john dewey, philosophy, pragmatism, Reinhold Niebuhr, richard rorty, the ontological mystery, truth, william james
6 Comments
The Universe’s Existence: Is it an Ontological Mystery or Just a Very Complicated Problem?
At the heart of the universe are three staggering paradoxes, and one of them, however absurd and inconceivable, must be true: either the universe made itself; or it has always existed; or some self-made or eternal telos is behind it Theists … Continue reading
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Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, astronomy, atheism, atheist, Genesis, God, negative theology, physics, Richard Dawkins, robert wright, the ontological mystery
5 Comments
Richard Dawkins on “Theo-Masturbation”
Earlier today, I noticed that Richard Dawkins said of one of the featured articles at his site (on negative theology): Josh called it ‘theo-masturbation’. Excellent expression, and it perfectly sums up what Karen Armstrong, Terry Eagleton and all those pretentious pseuds do, … Continue reading
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Tagged agnostic, agnosticism, apologetics, atheism, atheist, God, Jesus, negative theology, religion, Richard Dawkins, the ontological mystery, theology
3 Comments
Quote of the Day (and Funny)
From David Berlinski’s book, The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions (Basic Books, 2009, 16-17): Why should a limited and finite organ such as the human brain have the power to see into the heart of matter and mathematics? … Continue reading
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Tagged atheism, atheist, david berlinski, evolution, life, mathematics, mind, music, the brain, the ontological mystery
1 Comment
Neil Young and the Discontinuities of Life and the Self
Neil Young as a wise man: Neil Young as a young man: The second video doesn’t embed. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWovzUEe4l8
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Tagged beauty, Buddhism, heart, life, literature, neil young, poetry, the ontological mystery, the self, the spirit, wisdom, yoga
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Evolution v. Creation Watch: How Did Such a Frail, Intricate, and Gorgeous Thing Come into Existence in the First Place?
Just asking.
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Tagged astronomy, biology, creation, earth, evolution, Genesis, God, philosophy, science, the Bible, the ontological mystery
2 Comments
The Ontological Mystery (the Mystery of Being) Represented in Film
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Tagged America, american beauty, beauty, existence, God, life, love, meaning, mystery, the ontological mystery, the universe
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Motorcycle Love: “You live in a box, you drive a box, you work in a box. When you get on those two wheels . . .”
Slate has a video series called “Interviews: 50 cents”, in which they have random “man on the street” conversations with people. Slate recently went to the Pomona Fair in Southern California and did an interview with a heterosexual couple into Harley Davidson motorcyles. You … Continue reading
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Tagged contact, God, life, love, motorcycle, motorcycles, mystery, spirit, the ontological mystery, wind
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