[SydPhil] University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series, Lok-Chi Chan (joint work with Shawn Standefer), (National Taiwan University)

[Ryan Cox]

Hi everyone,

This week's speaker in the University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series is Lok-Chi Chan (joint work with Shawn Standefer), (National Taiwan University)

The title of the talk is "Atheist Debunkers and Otherworld Calvinism". Here is an abstract for the talk:

In the philosophy of religion, 'de jure objections' is an umbrella term that is used to cover a range of arguments for the conclusion that theistic belief is irrational or unreasonable, either if God does or does not exist. Such arguments can be found in the work of Hume, Kant, Russell, and more recently, Oppy and evolutionary debunkers like Dennett, Wilkins, and Griffiths. It has also been argued that Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche offered similar critiques. What we call ‘otherworld Calvinism’ counters these objections by proposing the counterfactual conditional that ‘if God exists, God would ensure theistic belief’s reasonableness’. We respond to this otherworld Calvinist argument by examining it through the lenses of probability, modality, and logic. After examining various forms of the argument, we argue that none of them can compel sophisticated atheist thinkers to believe that serious theistic possibilities worth considering, from their perspective, would involve such a divine measure.

The seminar will take place at 3:30pm on Wednesday Aug 28 in the Philosophy Seminar Room (N494).

Enquiries about the seminar series can be directed to ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au

Ryan Cox
Associate Lecturer in Philosophy
Discipline of Philosophy
School of Humanities
University of Sydney
ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au
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