Bill O'Reilly - Christianity Is a Philosophy, Not a Religion

Unfortunately, the word philosophy is used, misused and abused by all kinds of people. For some, like the local drunk at your nearest bar, for instance, it means the semi-coherent and misogynistic ramblings about the "deep truths" he has "discovered" through dozens of failed relationships, and that he can't help but share with you. For others, it means some sort of "deep" motto, like "believe in yourself." A slightly more respectable version still is that of a worldview: a set of ideas by which you lead your life, and which, with any luck, are not incompatible with each other.

But for philosophers, philosophy is not a thing... it's an activity: it is the pursuit of wisdom (the good and the true) by means of rational conceptual analysis, by rigorous and systematic observation, by synthesizing the very best knowledge that we acquire from the sciences, by subjecting claims to rational scrutiny, by questioning what others take for granted, and by developing the existential courage to confront the harshness of reality head-on without having to delude ourselves with comforting beliefs and illusions. Philosophy is something we do, not something we "have."

Whatever its merits, however, religion is not that. In philosophy, we investigate to find answers, and we go where the evidence takes us. In religion, you start with your preconceived belief first, and then look for ways to back it up later. Philosophy is inquiry; religion is rationalization.

So, when I heard that Bill O'Reilly recently claimed that Christianity is a philosophy, and NOT a religion, my first reaction was, predictably, WTF? Ah, but when Papa Bear wants to play logic and semantic games, you know that Jon Stewart is ready to call him on his bullshit :)

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And hey, have you noticed that there are a lot of similarities between the Jesus and Socrates stories? Well, this is no mere coincidence. As Nietzsche once put it, Christianity is Platonism for the herd. It's the same basic story, without the actual philosophy part...

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Sometimes I wonder if Jon Stewart is proof of God's existence...

The problem, though, is that Mr. Deity is now upset:

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When Aliens Read the Socratic Dialogues

Apparently they get a different satisfaction from reading Plato:

Of course, that might either mean that they are intellectually superior to us, or that maybe they're semi-autistic engineers. Oh snap! :)

To be fair, at least two humans, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, got the joke, except Nietzsche didn't find it very funny...

Via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

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Woody Allen reads "My (Socratic) Apologies"

If you follow me on Google+, you may have noticed that there was recently a new trial for Socrates in which the previous verdict of guilty was overturned (by an impressively small margin). Philosophy was just barely vindicated by the new ruling. And people say we don't make progress :)

If that's too much seriousness, however, you may enjoy the following short story, written and read by none other than that philosophically-minded comic, Woody Allen, about certain dreams he's been having recently:

Hat tip to Tony!

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Christopher Hitchens - Philosophy and Booze

If you're familiar with the late Christopher Hitchens, you probably know that besides being a prolific writer, social commentator, public intellectual, fierce debater and a master rhetorician, the man loved his booze and his smokes.

In the following clip, and true to form, Hitch decides to give an impromptu performance of Monty Python's famous philosophers' song, which he sings/recites by heart.

Since my own memory sucks big time, that's really impressive :)

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Shelly Kagan vs William Lane Craig - Is God Necessary for Morality?

It's been well understood by philosophers for the past 2,500 years, thanks to Plato's dialogue Euthyphro, that there is ultimately no real connection between God or religion and an objectively binding morality: the latter can exist without the former, and the former only gets to be considered good in virtue of the independence of the latter (otherwise we just have a viciously circular argument).

Nevertheless, the idea that morality depends on God is still just as popular as ever, and it is even held by some otherwise intelligent people, one of whom is William Lane Craig, who, in the following debate against philosopher Shelly Kagan, articulates better than most this seemingly obvious but ultimately self-defeating position.

The interesting thing to notice in this debate is how easily Kagan sweeps the floor with Craig's black and white thinking, appeals to consequences, arguments from personal incredulity, and other fallacious presuppositions. It's an intellectual bloodbath well worth watching...

For a different take on this issue, you can also watch William Lane Craig debate philosopher Louise Antony. Craig's arguments are, if I remember correctly, exactly the same, but Antony's take is different from Kagan's, and brings in a different way to counter Craig's wild assertions.

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Damon Horowitz - Philosophy in Prison

As you probably already know from this blog, TEDTalks are awesome: bring in some of the greatest minds in the world, working on the greatest and most interesting questions, with the best and most creative ideas, give them 18 minutes, and they will awe and wow you.

Well, when they brought in philosopher Damon Horowitz, he only needed about three minutes to inspire a standing ovation and blow everyone out of the water in what can only be described as one of the best TEDTalks of all time...

But you don't have to be in prison to study philosophy and be free. There are plenty of other practical reasons for deciding to study this mother of all intellectual disciplines.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. - Letter from Birmingham Jail

We all know Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great orator. And of course, when you throw in a bunch of amens and hallelujahs, and when you talk about the promised land to a highly religious nation, it's a lot easier to incite their passion and support.

Call me a cynic if you want, but while I endorse the message of civil rights, I've always had some problem with his speeches. What I've always been impressed with, however, was the letter he wrote when he was imprisoned in Birmingham to a group of white clergymen who disagreed with his methods. Unable to give a speech to a sympathetic audience from his cell, he had to choose his words very carefully, and the result is a masterful defense of nonviolent protest and an articulation of the elements that can justify civil disobedience and its manner of execution.

The video below is a verbatim dramatization of that entire letter, performed by Corey Jones playing the role of Martin Luther King, Jr. (starts at about the 4 minute mark).

That's what they get for writing a letter to a man who's got lots of education and plenty of time to respond while sitting in jail :)
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