Marbaniang, Domenic

"Tell a lie, speak it loudly, repeat it often, and the majority of people will believe it." ~ Adolf Hitler Sinister as this quote appears, deliberate lying is part of propaganda and advertisement all around. And, while people recognize much of it as false (for instance, an ad that shows women swarming on a man using a particular body spray), it is held that somehow the elevated picture one paints will have a psychologically deterministic noetic effect. But, are truth and determinism compatible? That is a vital question the answer to which will decide two things: 1. Whether humans have epistemic freedom; that is the choice to know. 2. Whether knowledge entails moral responsibility. While some sort of psychological determinism exists, as evident from experiments in group conformity, Milgram's authority experiments, and Piaget's experiments on cognitive ability with children, the determinism of psychology argues in support of uniformity of experience and not diversities ...

Hubert Lederer Dreyfus (b. Oct 1929) is an American philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. He has contributed much to the interpretation and analysis of Heidegger's philosophy. In recent times, his choice of an experience-based epistemic methodology has tended more towards a very pluralistic, anti-nihilist view; in fact, a reveling in Homeric polytheism as an inspiration for modern, revisited, or neo-polytheism. In Epistemics of Divine Reality , the conflict between reason and experience in the history of  the philosophy of religion has been identified. The conflict usually results in reason's tending to expel the empirical categories and choose a very metaphysical and, usually, monist or via negativa view of God. On the other hand, it also results in experience's tending to expel the rational categories and choose a very concrete, plural, this-wordly view of self and the universe.   Epistemics of Divine Reality - Philosophic...

Systematic theologies usually begin either with Theology Proper (the Doctrine of God) or Bibliology (the Doctrine of Revelation). The Classical method (chiefly of the rationalists) was to begin with the doctrine of God, first by establishing the existence of God through some rational argumentation. On the other hand, the Fideist method held that theology didn’t need to begin with reason at all; theology began from the Bible, God’s self-revelation to humanity. So, they usually began with establishing first the doctrine of divine revelation, i.e. with Bibliology. But, the inescapable problem again emerges: to try to establish the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible based on its own self-testimony would mean engaging in the informal question-begging fallacy: “I believe that the Bible is true because it is God’s Word, and what it says about itself as being God’s Word is true.” A question-begging fallacy doesn’t establish anything; it is like a man who tries to get higher by climbin...

This page contains notes and quotes apart from posts published on the blog. Following are links to some important posts related to the topic: Three Divisions of Philosophical Theology Rational Fideism and the Concept of God: Can God Be Rational and Yet Experienced? Is Philosophy Dead? Is Science All That Is?   The Anthropic Principle and Epistemic Issues Estrangement and Belongedness in the Ultimate Sacrifice of God Four Principles of Rational Fideism The Trinity and the Existential Paradox of Reality Epistemics of Divine Reality – Synopsis (Powerpoint) Truth & Reality: Epistemology & Ontology Zeno’s Arguments for the Irrationality of Plurality and the Rationality of Monism Faith as Substance – Hebrews 1:1 Faith as Ground or Foundation – Hebrews 1:1 Is Faith in God Different From Faith In Other Things? The Search for Reality in Greek and Indian Philosophy Theology of Revelation in the Bible What is T...