The Existence of God
Dec 20, 2005The question of whether or not God exists is profoundly fascinating and important. What are the proofs of the existence of God?
God had a Technical Difficulty
20 December 2005
We had a really great show on Tuesday. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, no one will ever be able to hear it again. Because of a series of miscommunications, the show didn't get recorded. We are terribly, terribly sorry about this. We apologize to our affiliates and to those who listen to the show via the internet.
Personally, I was crestfallen when I heard the news, shortly after we got off air. I thought it was one of our liveliest shows. Walter was really great. We generated scads of callers, scads of e-mails, even comments on the blog. Too bad it won't ever be heard by listeners to our growing number of affiliates or by the many, many folks who listen to our show via the internet. Once again, we're terribly sorry about this all.
We also had a technical difficulty with last week's show on Kant. It got recorded, fortunately, but we've had a problem getting it up on the archive page. That should be corrected soon.
Talk about omens, though. During our rehearsal before the show, the door to our studio mysteriously closed on its own. Our producer noticed this and said, "Do you think god is sending us a message." We laughed it off. But now that the episode has disappeared into the ether ... who knows?
Anyway, I still plan to blog about the topic of belief in god. I'll begin by responding to some of the comments on the other thread. But look for an extended post in the next couple of days.
Happy Holidays!
UPDATE: You can, in fact, find the program here.
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Related Shows
The Existence of God
Dec 20, 2005The question of whether or not God exists is profoundly fascinating and important. What are the proofs of the existence of God?
Concept of God
Dec 09, 2007What does "God" mean? Is God a concrete thing like a chair or a human; or is it an abstract thing, like love or goodness?
Believing in God
Oct 29, 2006Some have argued that there aren't any good arguments for believing in God. Is belief in God just an act of faith without reason?
Morality in a Godless World
Mar 29, 2015Belief in God is thought by many to be the only possible source of morality, such that without a God, “everything is permitted.
God and the Fine-Tuned Universe
Mar 17, 2013If the precise value of many physical constants had been different, the universe would not have supported life, human life, consciousness, philosophy and us.
Blog Archive
Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
Making a better world would be a great thing—but do we need philosophers to help us do that? Famously (or infamously), not all philosophers have been such great people. So are they the folks we... Read more
In her time—the 4th century CE—Hypatia was one of the most famous philosophers in Alexandria, and indeed in the ancient world. She studied and taught mathematics,... Read more
Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
Your friendly neighborhood Senior Prodcuer here, once again stepping out from behind the mixing board to bring you some bonus content from this week's 17th (!) annual Summer Reading special.... Read more
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Fascism is on the rise, new infectious diseases keep cropping up, and we’re on the verge of environmental collapse: how on earth could art possibly save us? The arts are may be nice distraction,... Read more
Some say the world is full of contradictions, like “parting is such sweet sorrow.” Parting is sweet, but parting is also sad; and sweetness and sadness are opposites. But logicians would say that... Read more
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Does reading that strike you as something out of The Secret—like if you... Read more
Derek Parfit was a really interesting thinker when it came to identity and the self. He had a particularly cool thought experiment involving tele-transportation.
Suppose you’re on your... Read more
When philosophers talk about perception, they tend to focus on what we see and hear, and rarely on what we smell. But olfaction is a strange sense that deserves greater philosophical scrutiny. For... Read more
A caller in this week's episode nominated "Women Talking" for a Dionysus Award. Guest co-host Jeremy Sabol takes that as a springboard to blog about movies and... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Cancel Culture, which some consider a real problem: people losing their jobs, being harassed online, their home addresses being shared—all because they said... Read more
This week we’re asking why we should trust science—which may sound like a weird question. After all, why would we doubt the method that helps us build bridges and skyscrapers, formulate life... Read more
Following up on last year's not-so-new experiment, here's a little behind-the-scenes look into the brief audio montages (produced... Read more
This week we’re asking what it’s... Read more
This essay also appears at the website of Oxford University Press, publisher of Josh's new book,
"The World According to Proust."
... Read more
This week we’re thinking about how to create a world in which our leaders are not just effective legislators, but also good people.
Some might think there are not enough leaders like that... Read more
This week we're thinking about the British Liberal tradition and its relationship to colonialism and self-government. Classical Liberal thinkers, like John Locke and John Stuart Mill, held that... Read more
This week we’re thinking about Collective Action and Climate Change. With floods and fires getting more frequent and intense, and with the summer just ended shattering heat records around the... Read more
This week we’re thinking about cultural appropriation and asking who owns culture—which may be a weird way of thinking about it. It's easy to see how somebody can own the rights to a song they... Read more
This week we’re questioning Effective Altruism. That’s Peter Singer’s idea that you should do the most good you can, and you should figure out what that is by doing your homework and choosing the... Read more
This week we're asking what Political Inequality is. Sounds easy to define, right? That’s when some people don’t get an equal voice in society, because they’re not represented in government, or... Read more
This week we're asking whether it's rational to be optimistic—which seems like bit of a crazy question if you've been reading the news lately. After all, what could possibly justify the belief... Read more
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Comments (8)
Guest
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 -- 4:00 PM
Philosophy talk is broadcast on Thursday nights inPhilosophy talk is broadcast on Thursday nights in Portland and I was looking forward to hearing your show on the existence of God. Unfortunately, for me, this program will never exist, even though others will claim to have received enlightening emanations on this topic, and perhaps John and Ken will blog about this ?alleged? event now sliding into the mists and mythology of time. How ephemeral life is, even in the seemingly tangible realm of the physical.
This says something about the fragility of existence, that even though the transmission is broadcast loud and clear, it can evaporate into space, unknown, unreceived and unrecorded. Perhaps God suffers technical difficulties as well, relying on the delicate mechanism of human minds and hearts to be receptive to the possibility of paradise.
Guest
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 -- 4:00 PM
Ken, We out here in the ethersphere who will neKen,
We out here in the ethersphere who will never know the mysteries you unveiled this week all await your comments!
Guest
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 -- 4:00 PM
Well, Ken and John, here is something not altogethWell, Ken and John, here is something not altogether inappropriate:
"These here questions - why God gives the gallstones here and don't give
the gallstones over there, why He holds one guy's dinner down and makes
another guy throw up his dinner - those questions have boggled great minds
through the ages, Edith." - Archie Bunker on Divine Sovereignty
In any case, congratulations on another wonderful year of Philosophy Talk.
Guest
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 -- 4:00 PM
Hello from a new listener. I stumbled upon this sHello from a new listener. I stumbled upon this site recently as a result of a google search on Hume and Nietzsche. This is a great project and I hope you are able to continue, God willing of course.
Guest
Monday, December 26, 2005 -- 4:00 PM
RE: the "encore" programming of 'What is Beauty'RE: the "encore" programming of 'What is Beauty' on KALW, San Francisco, 12/17/05...
I would very much appreciate a response from (Prof. Alexander?), as he offered on the orginal brocasting of the discussion...
To the following posit:
That universal beauty simply does not exist within the confines of time and space, neither in the worlds of nature nor humankind.
Yet certainly, such a thing does exist, but outside of those finalities.
What then, would it be?
I think I have an idea but, I find it difficult to articulate it!
Can you suggest what this is?
Thanks.
Guest
Monday, January 2, 2006 -- 4:00 PM
Why not ask if anyone recorded it? I can't believWhy not ask if anyone recorded it? I can't believe in this day and age where people have 'TIVO' type radio devices a show that was actually broadcast over the air just disappeared. I bet if you ask on the air someone will volounteer a copy. It might not be the same quality as the studio version but it would be something.
Guest
Monday, January 2, 2006 -- 4:00 PM
Hey Logicnazi: Actually, at least two listenersHey Logicnazi:
Actually, at least two listeners stepped up and let us know that they had recorded the program. Neither of the recordings is of broadcast quality. But we're going to post them on our archive page in the next couple of days.
We have to do something slightly perverse. Take an mp3 file and convert it to a streaming format. But soon -- hopefully very soon -- we'll have an experimental podcasting service up and running. Podcasting it requires us to strip all the music out, unfortunately. Our technical guys have been slow getting to that one.
Anyway, stay tuned. Maybe there is a god after all.
Guest
Wednesday, January 4, 2006 -- 4:00 PM
Technical staff could be doing a better job. The rTechnical staff could be doing a better job. The real media link for the 'environment and progress' show (http://www.philosophytalk.org/EnvironmentandProgress.htm) plays the previous kant show recording. This has happened a few times in the past already.