Fantastic interview, thank you for putting this together. While Oppy's introductory work is great, I'd recommend reading his more academic work, including his work _Arguing About Gods_ which is widely considered one of the best defenses of Atheism in the literature. His book _Naturalism and Religion_ is excellent too. Another excellent book is J.H. Sobel's _Logic and Theism_ which Oppy and others consider to be among one of the best books on arguments for and against the existence God to appear in the literature.
Thanks for checking it out! I want to read _Arguing About Gods_ but the price is quite expensive I’ve found. Sobel I’d also love to read. I must check these out asap. I have been getting through Swinburne and it’s excellently argued even though I disagree with his conclusions. Cheers!
Hello. I would like to know how you can keep you atheism after reading and learning so much about the resources in favor of theism. I would like to be a rational atheist and I would love to know how to respond to theistic arguments from natural theology.
Huh? There are people (theists) who thought about it and believe there is a creator god or gods. There are people (atheists) who thought about it and believe there is no creator god or gods. There are people (agnostic) who thought about it and believe the question is unknownable.
You should check out firas zahabi's philosophy, one of the most intelligent people on earth he is an amazing philosopher and MMA coach who helped GSP became a ufc champion. He would definitely come onto your channel and discuss philosophy and religion definitely check him out I think you'd be very interested
41:40 "Islamophobia,a word created by fascists,and used by cowards,to manipulate morons" -Christopher Hitchens I deeply respect Mr Oppy,but as a former muslim,it's my duty to tell people that hatred of muslim should be termed as muslimophobia or antimuslim bigotry,as they exist in reality,and not Islamophobia which has become the muslim apologist's go to term to dismiss any critic of Islam.It really is used to discredit any critic of Muhammad/Islam by labelling the person as bigot/racist/islamophobe.
If everything needed to be created nothing would exist, therefore God exists. The God's paradox is that it is impossible to exist existance without the existence of an impossibility. It is impossible for existence to exist without the existence of an eternal entity that was not created. The existence of an eternal entity or infinitude is an impossibility. Can a car go at infinite speed, have a painting infinite colors, start a race an eternity ago, have a football pitch infinite surface? It is impossible. The God's paradox is resolved being the eternal entity a miracle or impossibility that God makes possible. God is the eternal miracle of Life and Death, everything that ever existed, exists and would exist. The debate between religious people and atheists is encysted because God exists and the religious god doesn’t, so both are wrong having arguments to be right. Why the cosmological argument is understood by religious people and not by atheists? Because humanity choose to ignore the arguments that contradict their vision of reality. Is the logical proposition “if everything had to be created or have a predecessor nothing would exist” true or false? An atheist answered “it’s false, you don’t have evidence to support this ‘proposition’”.
I don't agree with the concept that certainty is unobtainable. God is not physical but individuals can interact with Him regardless, and that gives them personal certainty even if they can't show physical proof of that interaction to give others certainty.
The problem with that approach is that those people can’t justify how they know that what they “interact(ed)” with is really God rather than a psychological projection borne out of sincere belief or an illusion cast by Satan, a demon, etc. Pride is a deadly sin, and certainty regarding that which can’t be soundly justified leads to that kind of arrogant pride. That’s why I personally think that agnosticism is the only intellectually honest, and truly humble, position to hold.
@@loganleatherman7647 If a creator God interacted with an individual He created, that does not guarantee pride on the individual's behalf for being interacted with. That is an odd statement to make.
Seems like a lot of fluff talk, the guest appeared to avoid answering questions he didn't like by being wishy washy especially when it came to choosing a religion that made more sense. He'd be a great politician. The interviewer should have pressed a bit more rather than trying to appease his feelings. It's ok to disagree dude
Thanks for leaving your thoughts. As you saw, at times I pushed for Graham to elaborate on some of the things he said (or didn’t say), though one big thing I was left unsatisfied with, was his claim that atheists don’t need to know what would convince them of a God’s existence. This to me seems strange, as it by implication profoundly negates the investigation of the topic to begin with. Unfortunately, he didn’t expand any more than what I could reasonably ask for. Regardless, it was an interesting exchange I had with him. Perhaps I can revisit some of these points in the future if I have him on the channel again! Cheers
Not sure this is a fair comment. Graham Oppy is a leading atheist philosopher of religion and his work is extremely meticulous, careful, and precise. He is anything but wishy washy. I think he just genuinely does not find any of the religions on offer to be attractive. I'd recommend reading some of his academic work to get a sense of his views.
This is patently a gross mischaracterization of Graham Oppy and his work. This comment demonstrates that you’re just seeing what you want to see. Oppy is one of the most thorough and precise atheists in modern philosophy. Just because he didn’t respond in the way that you wanted to see doesn’t mean that he’s “wishy washy”, it just means that you need to better understand where he’s coming from when he says what he says. Philosophers and lay people answer questions about these kinds of topics very differently.
How can you know what would change your mind. Many of the people who leave theism take many years to leave. It's often not just one conversation or one experience. To think that one thing would change your mind seems unlikely on this topic. It's not very likely there is going to be some amazing event that changes your mind. It's not like a god is going to just suddenly appear. So the most likely thing to change your mind is a series of things over time.@@AheadOfTheCurveVideos
Fantastic interview, thank you for putting this together. While Oppy's introductory work is great, I'd recommend reading his more academic work, including his work _Arguing About Gods_ which is widely considered one of the best defenses of Atheism in the literature. His book _Naturalism and Religion_ is excellent too. Another excellent book is J.H. Sobel's _Logic and Theism_ which Oppy and others consider to be among one of the best books on arguments for and against the existence God to appear in the literature.
Don't forget Mackie's _The Miracle of Theism_ and Martin's _Atheism: A Philosophical Justification._
Thanks for checking it out! I want to read _Arguing About Gods_ but the price is quite expensive I’ve found. Sobel I’d also love to read. I must check these out asap. I have been getting through Swinburne and it’s excellently argued even though I disagree with his conclusions. Cheers!
Hello. I would like to know how you can keep you atheism after reading and learning so much about the resources in favor of theism. I would like to be a rational atheist and I would love to know how to respond to theistic arguments from natural theology.
@@worldsalvatony5801watch channels like Rationality Rules here on RUclips, be logical and skeptic.
Definitely teased out some views oppy hasn't expressed in interviews yet, thanks!
Thanks for watching? 🙏
I love
Dr. Graham Oppy. Thanks for having him here.
Keep the great content 👌
Default position is one has never thought about the question.
If that were the case no one would speak about this topic .
Huh? There are people (theists) who thought about it and believe there is a creator god or gods. There are people (atheists) who thought about it and believe there is no creator god or gods. There are people (agnostic) who thought about it and believe the question is unknownable.
@@adamc1694 what did you mean by your comment ?
You said "no one would speak about this topic". I said there are other groups of people.
@@adamc1694 bro they are thinking about the topic , they differ in stances but they all have a stance .
Thanks for this pal.
My pleasure!
You should check out firas zahabi's philosophy, one of the most intelligent people on earth he is an amazing philosopher and MMA coach who helped GSP became a ufc champion. He would definitely come onto your channel and discuss philosophy and religion definitely check him out I think you'd be very interested
44:20
Totally relatable.
41:40
"Islamophobia,a word created by fascists,and used by cowards,to manipulate morons"
-Christopher Hitchens
I deeply respect Mr Oppy,but as a former muslim,it's my duty to tell people that hatred of muslim should be termed as muslimophobia or antimuslim bigotry,as they exist in reality,and not Islamophobia which has become the muslim apologist's go to term to dismiss any critic of Islam.It really is used to discredit any critic of Muhammad/Islam by labelling the person as bigot/racist/islamophobe.
Nice point! ❤️
37:00 I wonder why Oppy thinks that historians cannot possibly deliver the necessities to believe that Jesus wasn't God 🤔
It was an interesting statement. Perhaps he meant in terms of certainty enough to genuinely convince … but it convinces many academics…
If everything needed to be created nothing would exist, therefore God exists. The God's paradox is that it is impossible to exist existance without the existence of an impossibility. It is impossible for existence to exist without the existence of an eternal entity that was not created. The existence of an eternal entity or infinitude is an impossibility. Can a car go at infinite speed, have a painting infinite colors, start a race an eternity ago, have a football pitch infinite surface? It is impossible. The God's paradox is resolved being the eternal entity a miracle or impossibility that God makes possible. God is the eternal miracle of Life and Death, everything that ever existed, exists and would exist. The debate between religious people and atheists is encysted because God exists and the religious god doesn’t, so both are wrong having arguments to be right. Why the cosmological argument is understood by religious people and not by atheists? Because humanity choose to ignore the arguments that contradict their vision of reality. Is the logical proposition “if everything had to be created or have a predecessor nothing would exist” true or false? An atheist answered “it’s false, you don’t have evidence to support this ‘proposition’”.
I don't agree with the concept that certainty is unobtainable. God is not physical but individuals can interact with Him regardless, and that gives them personal certainty even if they can't show physical proof of that interaction to give others certainty.
The problem with that approach is that those people can’t justify how they know that what they “interact(ed)” with is really God rather than a psychological projection borne out of sincere belief or an illusion cast by Satan, a demon, etc.
Pride is a deadly sin, and certainty regarding that which can’t be soundly justified leads to that kind of arrogant pride. That’s why I personally think that agnosticism is the only intellectually honest, and truly humble, position to hold.
@@loganleatherman7647 If a creator God interacted with an individual He created, that does not guarantee pride on the individual's behalf for being interacted with. That is an odd statement to make.
Seems like a lot of fluff talk, the guest appeared to avoid answering questions he didn't like by being wishy washy especially when it came to choosing a religion that made more sense. He'd be a great politician. The interviewer should have pressed a bit more rather than trying to appease his feelings. It's ok to disagree dude
Thanks for leaving your thoughts. As you saw, at times I pushed for Graham to elaborate on some of the things he said (or didn’t say), though one big thing I was left unsatisfied with, was his claim that atheists don’t need to know what would convince them of a God’s existence. This to me seems strange, as it by implication profoundly negates the investigation of the topic to begin with. Unfortunately, he didn’t expand any more than what I could reasonably ask for. Regardless, it was an interesting exchange I had with him. Perhaps I can revisit some of these points in the future if I have him on the channel again!
Cheers
Not sure this is a fair comment. Graham Oppy is a leading atheist philosopher of religion and his work is extremely meticulous, careful, and precise. He is anything but wishy washy. I think he just genuinely does not find any of the religions on offer to be attractive. I'd recommend reading some of his academic work to get a sense of his views.
I'd watch more stuff on oppy before making this assessment. Better yet buy one of his books.
This is patently a gross mischaracterization of Graham Oppy and his work. This comment demonstrates that you’re just seeing what you want to see. Oppy is one of the most thorough and precise atheists in modern philosophy. Just because he didn’t respond in the way that you wanted to see doesn’t mean that he’s “wishy washy”, it just means that you need to better understand where he’s coming from when he says what he says. Philosophers and lay people answer questions about these kinds of topics very differently.
How can you know what would change your mind. Many of the people who leave theism take many years to leave. It's often not just one conversation or one experience. To think that one thing would change your mind seems unlikely on this topic. It's not very likely there is going to be some amazing event that changes your mind. It's not like a god is going to just suddenly appear. So the most likely thing to change your mind is a series of things over time.@@AheadOfTheCurveVideos