From: Max More (max@maxmore.com)
Date: Sun May 12 2002 - 09:55:19 MDT
At 12:38 PM 5/12/2002 +1000, you wrote:
>Oh dear oh dear. Calling Dr Tipler:
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/11/arts/11GOD.html?todaysheadlines
>
>Economists use probability theory to make forecasts about consumer
>spending. Actuaries use it to calculate insurance premiums. Last month,
>Richard Swinburne, a professor of philosophy at Oxford University, put it
>to work toward less mundane ends: he invoked it to defend the belief that
>Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
I'm glad you posted this Damien. It gave me a chuckle. Dear old Richard
Swinburne was my professor for Philosophy of Religion when I was at Oxford
in the 1980s. I still remember finishing reading my critical paper on the
design argument in the second class, and Swinburne pressing his thin, oddly
rubbery lips together, smiling tightly, and responding archly, "Well, that
about wraps it up for God."
Swinburne always was fond of pseudo-inductive arguments for God, rather
than the traditional deductive kinds. It seems superficially more
reasonable, but in the end it's just probability enslaved to faith.
Cheers,
Max
_______________________________________________________
Max More, Ph.D.
max@maxmore.com or more@extropy.org
http://www.maxmore.com
Strategic Philosopher
President, Extropy Institute. http://www.extropy.org <more@extropy.org>
_______________________________________________________
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