RA021 - Interview with Dr. Graham Oppy

In this episode the Real Atheologians interview philosopher Dr. Graham Oppy. We discuss the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism, defining naturalism, the Modal Ontological Argument, and a number of issues in contemporary philosophy of religion.
An interesting paper on skeptical theism that explains "the preface paradox" (relevant to our discussion of the EAAN) starting on p. 12 - luisoliveira.or...
Nagasawa and Almeida's "Faultless Modal Ontological Argument" - capturingchrist...
SEP on the PSR - plato.stanford...
Gale and Pruss's "New Cosmological Argument" (which isn't so new anymore) - alexanderpruss....
Oppy's response to Gale and Pruss -
philpapers.org...
Gale and Pruss's response to Oppy - www.jstor.org/...

[@joshuabrecka6012]

Oppy is such a legend

[@danielchaney1857]

Oppy seems to argue persuasively that Plantinga’s evolutionary argument against naturalism commits the genetic fallacy. He then points out that, given the truth of evolution, Plantinga’s argument is self-defeating. Perhaps my favorite part was Oppy’s strong defense of scientific realism (at least down to the level of quarks) against Plantinga-like skepticism. I wish the (weak or strong) PSR discussion had considered the case that the PSR is applicable only within nature (the only place where we have observed causation) and thus cannot be used to speculate to non-natural causation. Oppy’s description of “chance” as epistemic rather than ontological sounds reasonable, simple, and consistent with the practical success of scientific reductionism. Throughout the entire discussion, he displayed frankness and humility. Thanks for sharing this discussion with us. You guys are great.

[@alexmarkadonis7179]

Oppy has become a member of favourite philosophers set.

[@abeldeleon6081]

Thanks for getting this interview! :)

[@SuperRunner1993]

Oppy is great.

[@fahimp3]

I was looking into Bell's theorem which seems to rule out local hidden variables for Quantum mechanics. This helped me imagine what "real chance" may be like if it exists. The existence of non-local hidden variables is still an open question.