Editor’s note: Scientism as an epistemological approach is debunked in this article. Materialists and naturalists are also welcome to comment on this.

‘MYSTICALLY’ SPEAKING, RICHARD DAWKINS, the famed author of popular science books such as the controversial The God Delusion (2006), has an unquestioning allegiance to his own ‘god’ – science. Like many other naturalists, Dawkins sees science as having the power to untangle most, if not all, the mysteries of the universe without the need of the supernatural and thus believes that ultimately science can triumphantly address almost every problem.

Editor’s note: Prescribing the correct technical usage of the terms ‘valid’ and ‘true’, this article by a Logic professor of a university in Manila, Philippines is helpful to anyone who wishes to be knowledgeable in reasoning. OurHappySchool.com highly recommends it especially to those taking up Philosophy subjects.

Copyright 2011 by Jensen DG. Mañebog

IN ONE OF MY CLASSES IN LOGIC, the students asserted that the statement “All Hawaiians are Americans” is valid. Upon noticing the disagreement from my facial expression, some of them right away shifted to claiming that it is invalid. With slick smile, I pronounced that neither answer is correct ...

Editor’s note: This article that tackles about the defects of Darwinist-evolutionist worldview especially as a foundation of a moral theory welcomes comments from evolutionists and non-evolutionists alike.

IF DARWINISM AND EVOLUTIONISM were a viable worldview worthy of being a foundation of man’s set of beliefs especially in relation to morality, then it must at least be capable of explaining the origin of life, especially that of human life. Unfortunately, nothing in evolution satisfactorily explains the origin of life.

Editor’s note: This article that talks about the defects of atheistic-naturalistic-materialistic worldview especially as a basis of a theory in ethics welcomes comments both from atheists and theists.

AIMING TO SHOW PERHAPS that his worldview is far from being unhealthy, famous atheist Richard Dawkins affirms that atheists’ naturalism produces the “richness” in human life. He writes in The God Delusion, “What most atheists do believe is that although there is only one kind of stuff in the universe and it is physical, out of this stuff come minds, beauty, emotions, moral values—in short the full gamut of phenomena that gives richness to human life”...

A CLASS LECTURE IN ETHICS

Editor’s note: As it gives guidelines in choosing a sound moral theory to follow in one’s life, this article is helpful not only to Ethics students.

‘MORALITY’ GENERALLY REFERS to the rightness or wrongness of something, as of human actions, as judged by certain standard/s. To define it further, there is a need to discuss some of its features as a subject matter …

Many people in this age of pluralism believe that as various faiths incessantly emerge in every sector of our society, many are led to suppose that religions are only superficially different ...

“DARWINISM IS WOEFULLY LACKING FACTUAL SUPPORT and is rather based on philosophical assumptions.”

According to American chemist and Nobel laureate Robert Woodward, respected professors at prestigious secular universities are rising up and arguing this, together with the point that “empirical evidence, especially in molecular biology, now points compellingly to some sort of creative intelligence behind life ...

...Recognizing that Darwinian evolutionary theory is no genuine scientific theory at all, even the evolutionist Loren Eiseley had conceded: “After having chided the theologian for his reliance on myth and miracle, science found itself in the unenviable position of having to create a mythology of its own: namely, the assumption that what, after long effort, could not be proved to take place today had, in truth, taken place in the primeval past ...

(Excerpted from the author’s paper, “Richard Dawkins’ Foundations of Morality: A Critical Evaluation” [MA Philosophy, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines]. You, too, can have your lectures, readings, modules, researches, articles, etc. posted here. Send them through e-mail to OurHappySchool@yahoo.com.)

IT WAS CHARLES LYELL book Principles of Geology (1830) that inspired Charles Darwin to publish his work Origin of Species in 1859. After his book came out of the press, Darwin out-famed Lyell and the idea of organic evolution “spread like wildfire, and caught the imagination of all intellectuals.” This novel thought soon “revolutionized the very thinking of man and had significant repercussions on the life and morals of all Western civilization.”

Editor’s note: This article was excerpted from the speech delivered by the author as guest speaker in the launching of a debate society of a university in Quezon City, Philippines on August 25, 2006

ACADEMIC DEBATE is very much related to Religious Debate. In fact, if you want to be a good religious debater, academic debate is a very helpful training ground in the same way Muay Thai is quite useful in Mixed Martial Arts.