I’m going to
take a break from the topic of the death penalty soon – I’m quite sick of it myself, believe you me
– but the trouble is that critics of By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed keep saying things that demand a response. The latest example is Prof. Robert Fastiggi,
who in a series of combox remarks has replied to my recent Catholic World Report article on capital punishment and the ordinary magisterium. Once again, he ties himself in ever more
convoluted logical knots trying to justify the unjustifiable, viz. the
possibility of a reversal of 2000 years of clear and unbroken magisterial and
scriptural teaching. But the attempt is
well worth calling attention to, because it shows just how far one has to go
through the looking glass in order to try to avoid the implications of the
evidence Joe Bessette and I have set out in our book.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Saturday, January 20, 2018
The latest on Catholicism and capital punishment
Is there
still anything left to say about the death penalty? Yes, plenty.
In the debate generated by By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed, the focus has been on questions about the interpretation of
various individual scriptural passages, and the level of authority of various
papal statements considered in isolation.
But the critics have failed to consider the sheer cumulative force of
two millennia of consistent ordinary magisterial teaching. Some of them have also wrongly supposed that,
even if capital punishment is legitimate under natural law, the higher demands
of the Gospel might nevertheless rule it out absolutely. In a
new article at Catholic World Report,
I show that the ordinary magisterium has taught infallibly that the death penalty is legitimate in principle even as a matter of specifically Christian
morality. No reversal is possible
consistent with the indefectibility of the Church. There’s a fair amount of new material in the
article that goes beyond what Joe Bessette and I say in the book.
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Barron and Craig in Claremont (Updated again)
Last night
at Claremont McKenna College, Stephen Davis and I moderated an
exchange between Bishop Robert Barron and William Lane Craig. You can watch a video recording of the event at
Bishop Barron’s Facebook page. (It
looks like you don’t need to be signed in in order to view it.) Michael Uhlmann is the gentleman you'll see introducing the participants, and Joe Bessette and Brandon Vogt organized the whole thing. The event was sponsored by the Claremont Center for Reason, Religion,
and Public Affairs, with the assistance of Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire
Catholic Ministries and Prof. Craig’s Reasonable Faith.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Five Proofs on television and radio (Updated)
UPDATE 1/12: You can now watch the EWTN Live episode on YouTube or at the EWTN Live web page.
This Wednesday, January 10, I will be on EWTN Live with Fr. Mitch Pacwa to discuss Five Proofs of the Existence of God. I will also be taping an episode of EWTN Bookmark for future airing.
This Wednesday, January 10, I will be on EWTN Live with Fr. Mitch Pacwa to discuss Five Proofs of the Existence of God. I will also be taping an episode of EWTN Bookmark for future airing.
Also
forthcoming is an interview about the book on Lauren Green’s Lighthouse Faith at Fox
News Radio.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Reelin’ in the links
At Catholic World Report, my co-author
Joseph Bessette on the death penalty, recent popes,
and deterrence.
The New Yorker on the late Jerry Fodor and his critique
of Neo-Darwinism.
Physicist
Sabine Hossenfelder announces her forthcoming book Lost
in Math: How Beauty Leads Physics Astray.
She also has a blog.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
The best New Atheist book?
The New
Atheism, one hears from time to time (e.g. here, here, here, and here), is dead. Maybe.
It depends on what you mean by “New Atheism.” I would say that its key marks are three:
first, an unreflective and dogmatic scientism; second, an extremely shallow
understanding of religion; and third, an obnoxious, evangelical fervor. The third probably has by now worn out its
welcome. Even many secular people are
tired of hearing the ever more unhinged rants and calls to action of the likes
of Richard Dawkins and P. Z. Myers, and appalled by the lemming-like behavior
of the kind of people who show up at a Reason Rally or Jerry Coyne’s combox. As a self-conscious
movement the New Atheism might be a spent force.
Friday, December 29, 2017
A lexicon for the capital punishment debate
This year, readers of this blog have been subjected to a
long, heated, and sometimes confusing series of debates on the subject of
Catholicism and capital punishment. To
help you take stock, here’s a guide to the key terms and concepts, in the
spirit of Daniel Dennett’s famous Philosophical
Lexicon:
harty,
adjective. Gratuitously vituperative,
especially toward straw men. “David is
so erudite. Why does he have to be harty
all the time?”
sheameless,
adjective. Harty to the point of
spittle-flecked incoherence. “Mark has
been harty ever since the Iraq war, but these days he’s absolutely
sheameless.”
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Five Proofs on CrossExamined
Recently I was interviewed by Frank Turek for his show CrossExamined
on the subject of my book Five
Proofs of the Existence of God.
You can now listen to the podcast at the CrossExamined website.
Thursday, December 21, 2017
A Hart that pumps bile
Strangely,
as David Bentley Hart has gotten more gratuitously nasty and unhinged in his
attacks on me, I find myself less offended, or even having much of an affective
reaction at all. It’s like dealing with
a mental patient or a surly neighborhood dog.
You simply navigate the situation, aware that there is no point in
getting angry with someone or something that isn’t rational. It’s too bad. Our last contretemps, on the subject of eternal
damnation, ended with a pleasing amicability in the combox here at the blog.
I had real hope that our future exchanges could be more positive. Alas, fast forward a few months and Hart is
suddenly spitting venom at straw men again in his review of By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed in Commonweal (to which I recently replied at Catholic World Report). And
now, at Church Life Journal Hart doubles down on the vitriol and the caricatures. Perhaps he can’t help it – just as, when
reading Hart, I can’t help thinking of the fable of the
scorpion and the frog.
Monday, December 18, 2017
At last, another open thread!
Long overdue
(sorry), it’s the latest open thread.
Talk amongst yourselves. Unlike
Linda Richman, I won’t give you a topic.
From Aquinas to Quine, Cheap Trick or fine wine, bad puns and lame
rhymes – the field is wide open. Though,
you know, maybe capital punishment is a little played at the moment…
Sunday, December 17, 2017
A stocking stuffer for your Romanian friends
Just in time for Christmas: A collection
of several of my essays has been published in a Romanian translation, under
the title De la Aristotel la John Searle și înapoi. Patru articole
filosofice. More information here.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
The latest on By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed
Last month,
Joe Bessette and I participated in a panel discussion about our book By
Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment
at the Fall Conference of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. The other participants were Gerard Bradley and
John O’Callaghan, and the session was moderated by Matthew Franck. The session can
now be viewed at YouTube.
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Manion on By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed
At The Wanderer, Catholic writer Christopher Manion
kindly reviews By
Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment. From the
review:
A highly recommended book that sheds
the patient, clear light of reason on the issue of capital punishment. Every U.S. bishop should read it…
In recent years, position statements
and lobbying efforts of the USCCB have ranged across a wide variety of
prudential issues, from global warming and tax policy to immigration and the
death penalty.
There are many policy approaches to
such issues that might conform to the precepts of legitimate Catholic social
teaching, so Lumen
Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the
Catholic Church, requires that action on in this area be left to the laity.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Debate? What debate?
Catholic
apologist Dave Armstrong
seems to be a well-meaning fellow, but I have to say that I am finding some of
his behavior very odd. To my great
surprise, I learned this afternoon that he has grandly announced
the following on Facebook:
Friday, December 1, 2017
Feser vs. Ahmed on Unbelievable?
Recently, on
the UK radio program Unbelievable? with
Justin Brierley, I debated atheist philosopher Arif Ahmed on the subject of
my book Five Proofs of the Existence of God. You can now listen to the debate online.
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Reply to Griffiths and Hart
By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment received some pretty nasty reviews
from Paul Griffiths in First Things and David Bentley Hart in Commonweal. My response to Griffiths and
Hart can now be read at
Catholic World Report.
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Barron and Craig event
On Saturday,
January 13, 2018, the Claremont Center for Reason, Religion, and Public Affairs
will host “A Conversation with Bishop
Robert Barron and William Lane Craig” at Claremont McKenna College. The moderators of the discussion will be
Stephen Davis and Edward Feser. The
event is free but registration is required.
More
information here.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Reply to Fastiggi
In a
recent article at Catholic World
Report, Prof. Robert Fastiggi defends the claim that the Church could
reverse her traditional teaching that capital punishment is legitimate in
principle. My reply to Fastiggi has
now been posted at CWR.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Reply to Brugger and Tollefsen (Updated again)
UPDATE 11/21: Part 3 has also now been posted.
UPDATE 11/20: Part 2 has now been posted.
In a recent series of articles at Public Discourse, E. Christian Brugger (here and here) and Christopher Tollefsen (here and here) have criticized By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment. This week, Public Discourse is running my three-part reply. Part 1 has now been posted.
UPDATE 11/20: Part 2 has now been posted.
In a recent series of articles at Public Discourse, E. Christian Brugger (here and here) and Christopher Tollefsen (here and here) have criticized By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment. This week, Public Discourse is running my three-part reply. Part 1 has now been posted.
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Two further ideas about development of doctrine
Go read Mike
Pakaluk’s excellent brief article “Four Ideas About Development” at First Things, then come back.
Welcome back. Here are a couple
of further thoughts to add to his:
Fifth,
development is properly spoken of in the passive voice rather than the active
voice. It always drives me crazy when
Catholics, including churchmen, go around talking about whether a pope will or
will not “develop” this or that doctrine.
Development is essentially something that happens. It is not an activity that a pope or anyone else decides
to carry out when he gets some bright idea into his head.
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Link it! Link it good!
On BBC Radio 4, Melvyn Bragg discusses
Kant’s categorical imperative with David Oderberg and other philosophers.
Philosopher
of science Bas van Fraassen is
interviewed at 3:AM Magazine.
From Edições Cristo Rei, my book The Last Superstition is now available in a Portuguese translation.
At First Things, Rusty Reno on accommodation to liberal modernity among contemporary
American conservatives and in the pontificate of Pope Francis.
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Dawkins vs. Aquinas on Pints with Aquinas (Updated)
UPDATE 11/14: Part two of the interview has now been posted.
Recently I was interviewed by Matt Fradd for his Pints with Aquinas podcast. We talk a bit about Five Proofs of the Existence of God, but our main topic is Richard Dawkins’s critique of Aquinas’s Five Ways in The God Delusion. We work through each of the objections Dawkins raises and discuss where they go wrong. Matt is posting the interview in two parts, and the first part has now been posted.
Recently I was interviewed by Matt Fradd for his Pints with Aquinas podcast. We talk a bit about Five Proofs of the Existence of God, but our main topic is Richard Dawkins’s critique of Aquinas’s Five Ways in The God Delusion. We work through each of the objections Dawkins raises and discuss where they go wrong. Matt is posting the interview in two parts, and the first part has now been posted.
Monday, November 6, 2017
Aristotle and contemporary science
Routledge
has just released the important new anthology Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives
on Contemporary Science,
edited by William M. R. Simpson, Robert C. Koons, and Nicholas J. Teh. I’ve contributed an essay titled “Actuality,
Potentiality, and Relativity’s Block Universe.”
The other contributors are Xavi
Lanao, Nicholas Teh, Robert Koons, Alexander Pruss, William Simpson, Tuomas
Tahko, Christopher Austin, Anna Marmodoro, David Oderberg, Janice Chik, William
Jaworski, and Daniel De Haan, with a foreword by John Haldane. The book is available in hardcover
or, for a much lower price, in an
electronic version.
Pakaluk on capital punishment
Philosopher
Michael Pakaluk kindly provided an endorsement for By
Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment. In
an essay at The Catholic Thing, Mike puts forward an
important defense of his own of the death penalty. Go give it a read. Along the way, he comments once again on By
Man, calling it “the most
comprehensive case ever assembled” for capital punishment.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Review of Dennett’s From Bacteria to Bach and Back (Updated)
UPDATE 11/19: The review can now be read online for free.
My review of Daniel Dennett’s From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds appears in the Fall 2017 issue of the Claremont Review of Books. (This is the issue that also contains Janet Smith’s review of By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed. Good excuse to buy a copy!)
My review of Daniel Dennett’s From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds appears in the Fall 2017 issue of the Claremont Review of Books. (This is the issue that also contains Janet Smith’s review of By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed. Good excuse to buy a copy!)
Smith on By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed
In the Fall 2017 issue of the Claremont Review of Books, Catholic moral theologian Janet Smith
reviews By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment.
Writes Smith:
[T]he central argument of [the book
is] that some crimes deserve death, and that this is now and has always been
the teaching of the Catholic Church.
Anyone who would claim otherwise must contend with Edward Feser and
Joseph Bessette’s unparalleled – and I’m tempted to say, irrefutable –
marshalling of evidence and logic in this important new book.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Five Proofs around the net
Strange Notions has kindly hosted a Q and A on my
book Five Proofs of the Existence of God
(which you can order either from
Amazon – though they are temporarily out of stock – or directly from
Ignatius Press). They chose ten of the
questions submitted and have now posted my
responses. Among the topics that
arise are the nature of proof, polytheism, divine simplicity, and the
relationship between Thomism and idealism.
Part II of the
two-part
interview on the book I recently did for The Patrick Coffin Show has now been posted (and can be viewed
either at Patrick’s
website or at YouTube). This part is a Q and A session with the
audience. Among the topics that arise
are Thomas Nagel, process theology, the problem of evil, and invincible
ignorance.
Monday, October 30, 2017
A further reply to Fastiggi, etc.
In an article at Catholic World Report, Robert Fastiggi is critical of the position I have taken
vis-à-vis Pope Francis and capital punishment in my recent articles at Catholic Herald and Catholic World Report. I reply to Fastiggi
in a
new CWR article.
At Public Discourse, E. Christian Brugger
has published a two-part article (here and here) responding critically to By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed. I have written a
detailed reply to Brugger which will appear at Public Discourse soon. I
also recently replied to David McClamrock’s review here at the blog.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
McClamrock on By Man shall His Blood Be Shed
At Today’s Catholic,
David McClamrock reviews By
Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment. It’s a somewhat mixed review. On the one hand, McClamrock acknowledges that:
The authors do make, and effectively
support, many points worthy of serious consideration. Among them, are in brief: Catholics are not
required to favor the abolition of the death penalty. The church has consistently taught that
capital punishment is legitimate in principle, while often pleading for mercy
in practice. Death is a deserved and
proportionate punishment for the worst murderers. The credible prospect of the death penalty prevents
crimes and saves lives... Numerous arguments for abolition of the death penalty
are weak, ill-founded or even downright stupid…
By exploding the view that extreme
anti-death-penalty absolutism is the only authentically Catholic position, the
work of Feser and Bessette may be helpful in recovering a well-balanced view of
capital punishment.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Around the web with Five Proofs
At The Secular Outpost, atheist Bradley
Bowen inaugurates what promises to be an interesting series of posts on Five
Proofs of the Existence of God. His
verdict so far:
Unlike the cases for God by Geisler
and Kreeft, Feser’s case is NOT a Steaming Pile of Crap, and it is a great
pleasure to consider a case that at least has the
potential to be a reasonable and intelligent case for God.
End
quote. As they say, read the whole
thing. “Feser’s case is NOT a Steaming
Pile of Crap” may be my favorite book review ever.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Five Proofs on The Patrick Coffin Show
A few weeks
ago, I was interviewed by Patrick Coffin before a live audience for a special episode
of his show. The subjects were my book Five
Proofs of the Existence of God, atheism, and related matters. You can now watch Part I of the episode at Patrick’s
website or at YouTube. Part II is a Q and A session that will be
posted next week.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Reply to Ivereigh, Brugger, Shea, and Fastiggi
My
recent Catholic Herald article
about Pope Francis and capital punishment has gotten a fair bit of
attention. Some of it has been positive,
some of it less so. In a
new essay at Catholic World Report,
I respond to four critics – Austen Ivereigh, E. Christian Brugger, Mark Shea,
and Robert Fastiggi.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Pope Francis on capital punishment
Pope Francis has made news with his
recent remarks about capital punishment and the catechism. They are seriously problematic. In an
article at Catholic Herald, I provide
an analysis.
LifeSiteNews has also
asked me to
comment on the story.
Five Proofs with Prager et al. (UPDATED)
UPDATE 10/17: You can now hear the Prager show interview online.
This Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 11 am PT, I will appear on The Dennis Prager Show to discuss my book Five Proofs of the Existence of God.
This Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 11 am PT, I will appear on The Dennis Prager Show to discuss my book Five Proofs of the Existence of God.
In early November, I will appear on Unbelievable? with Justin Brierley to discuss the book.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Liberty, equality, fraternity?
Pictured
above are the ideals of the French Revolution, and of the modern world in
general – liberty, equality, and fraternity.
Note carefully how they manifest their chief attributes. Liberty freely indulges its desires. Equality shares what it has. Fraternity looks on with brotherly
concern. And they’re all idiots.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Coming to a campus near you
On Thursday,
October 19, I will be giving a talk on the topic of scientism at UC Berkeley,
sponsored by the Thomistic Institute.
Details available at the
Institute’s website and at Facebook.
On Saturday,
November 4, I will be giving a talk on the topic of conscience, at a conference
devoted to that theme at Holy Rosary Parish in Portland, Oregon. Conference details here.
On Saturday,
November 11, Joe Bessette and I will participate in a panel discussion of our
book By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed
at the annual Fall
Conference put on by the Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame.
On Friday, December
1, I will be giving a talk on the subject of scientism at Cal Tech in Pasadena,
sponsored by Science and
Faith Examined. More details to
come.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Reading Religion on By Man
At Reading Religion, a publication of the
American Academy of Religion, Daniel Lendman reviews By
Man Shall His Blood Be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment,
which I co-authored with Joseph Bessette.
From the review:
By Man Shall His Blood Be Shed provides a trenchant
and cogent presentation of the defense of capital punishment from a Catholic
perspective… Feser and Bessette… insist that the legitimacy of capital
punishment is the ancient and long standing teaching of the Catholic Church. [They] go even farther, laying out a
compelling case that denying that capital punishment can be legitimate in
principle is proximate to heresy…
Monday, October 2, 2017
Five Proofs on The Daily Wire
Last week I
did a Skype interview with The Daily Wire’s
Ben Shapiro. The interview has
now been posted at Ben’s Facebook page.
(You can also watch it on YouTube.) We talk about Five
Proofs of the Existence of God, and also about free will and neuroscience.
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