Author: Steve Patterson

This week is another breakdown episode, and I focus primarily on the interview about logical contradictions with a professor at Columbia University. He claims that logical contradictions can be understood and incorporated into our worldview. I couldn’t more strongly disagree, and I wasn’t too impressed with his argument. This is why.

 

                                           

 

Religion is too quickly dismissed by modern intellectuals. One common area of human experience is overlooked, dismissed, or outright mocked: the spiritual experience. It deserves the same level of rational analysis as the rest of our worldview.

My guest today is Dr. Robert Murphy, who is a professional economist, author, and a self-described “born-again Christian”. We talk about his beliefs, story, and personal experiences with the faith.

Bob Murphy’s Website

His Books

My own experience with Christian evangelicalism

                                           

 

Can something be true at false at the same time? Some philosophers think so. I don’t, but my guest does. Questions of logic and epistemology are at the foundation for everyone’s philosophy, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

If contradictions are possible, that’s a big deal. If contradictions aren’t possible, that’s also a big deal. You have to decide for yourself.

Related Writings:

Everything Is Grounded in Logic

Logic is not a Convention

The Metaphysics of Logic

Guest’s Website

 

                                           

 

“Completed infinities” are at the center of modern mathematics. Their existence is taken as a foundational axiom. I must admit: I think this is an error – a basic logical mistake. Infinity, by definition, cannot be completed – or so it seems.

I am joined by Dr. Gary McGuire, the head of Mathematics and Statistics at the University College Dublin. To my surprise, Gary also expresses skepticism about completed infinities.

Related Articles:

Infinite Things Do Not Exist

Logic and Infinity

Gary’s Website