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Don't Commit a Deepity

Started by Sophus, November 08, 2009, 05:10:41 AM

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Sophus

Thought this presentation of Dan Dennett's was excellent: http://richarddawkins.net/article,4547,The-Evolution-of-Confusion,Dan-Dennett-AAI-2009-RDFRS-Josh-Timonen

Does anyone know the names of the two good theologians he mentioned? My computer is being insufferably slow. :(
‎"Christian doesn't necessarily just mean good. It just means better." - John Oliver

AlP

I watched that talk as well and I thought it was very good. The "deepity" is a marvelous invention.
"I rebel -- therefore we exist." - Camus

Will

Haha, yeah I downloaded that video a few days ago. Dennett is a singularly enjoyable speaker.
I want bad people to look forward to and celebrate the day I die, because if they don't, I'm not living up to my potential.

Recusant

Well I had not seen this before, and thank you very much Sophus, for your post bringing it to my (and others') attention.  A very enjoyable, and of course, thought provoking talk.  The closeted atheist ministers have my sympathy.  It must on occasion be a nightmarish existence for them...  

 
Quote from: "Sophus"Does anyone know the names of the two good theologians he mentioned?

He mentions several theologians, but I'm not sure that he calls any of them "good."  Toward the end of the talk, though, he does mention two in the same paragraph, when he gets into the evolution of the God meme, and adaptationist paranoia:
Richard Francis and Peter Godfrey Smith.  He says "The Godfrey Smith book is a really fine book, but it has this one really big lapse; that it buys Richard Francis' idea and term of "adaptationist paranoia..."
I'm not sure if these were the theologians you were thinking of.  As best as I can recall, this is pretty much the only point in the talk when he has much good to say about any theologian, so I'm thinking they (specifically Smith, I would guess) might be what you were looking for.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken