Author: Huenemann

Austin Dacey, the author of the popular book The Secular Conscience: Why Belief Belongs in Public Life, as well as the former representative of the Center For Inquiry to the United Nations, will be coming to Salt Lake City to speak at the University of Utah on Feb. 27. The event will be from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. Dacey will be speaking on his work on behalf of free speech and opposing anti-blasphemy laws at the UN. Dacey is a secularist philosopher who is well known among secularists as well as those who have been following religious liberty and free speech issues internationally. After Dacey’s talk, which will start at 4:00, there will be a short debate between Dacey and Mark Hausam on the question: Is Morality Possible Without God? Dacey’s talk will be entitled, “Blasphemy: Hate Speech or Human Right?” The event will take place in the Fine Arts Auditorium at the U.

USU SHAFT is organizing a carpool; details here.

This announcement from SHAFT:

This is just a quick reminder that SHAFT has a movie showing tonight in Old Main 201 at 6pm.

We will be watching God on Trial, a discussion about the problem of suffering. Why is there so much suffering in the world and what kind of God would allow it to happen? Universal questions about faith and philosophy are at the heart of God on Trial, which was inspired by the legend that a group of concentration camp prisoners conducted a mock trial against the Almighty God.

This is a critically-acclaimed, thoughtful, and deeply affecting film. You won’t want to miss it. Snacks will be provided.

Consider this case:

At 50, younger-Meredith (YM), just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, signs an advance directive (AD) expressing her preference that her doctors do not give her extraordinary treatment to keep her alive if she gets ill after having become demented. Meredith is an intellectual, someone who values the life of the mind, and she feels that to be kept alive when demented would make of her life a cruel joke. At 60, older-Meredith (OM) is demented but seemingly quite content with her life when she contracts pneumonia. When asked if she wants to be kept alive via extraordinary treatment, OM says yes. Whose preferences are morally authoritative, YM’s or OM’s?

Read more reflections on the case here.

More details here. Alfred Mele, the philosopher in question, has a very solid reputation, and has published interesting and important theories about agents and actions. I’m sure anything he comes up with will be worth studying. But it is funny to read how his university has tried to spin this news — they are working like mad to get him to say he’ll solve the free will problem, and he keeps cautioning that he doesn’t expect to do quite that.

The givers of the award, the Templeton foundation, have very deep pockets, but as we’ve discussed before, not everyone thinks it’s right to accept their money.

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