Explore the big questions in philosophy, history
and science from a rational perspective.

Thank you for visiting our new web site. We are currently uploading essays, reflections and reviews, so please check back often. The latest essays uploaded are:

Harari's Humanist Horror Story: Why History Matters
Harari blames humanism for the twentieth century's horrors. Leslie Allan shows how the historical record flatly refutes him.

Is Morality Natural or Supernatural?
If you think moral laws contain some mysterious supernatural ingredient that obligates us to obey them, think again. There is nothing magical about them, as this essay shows.

Morals, Metaphysics and Naturalism
Moral laws require no divine or metaphysical foundation; they emerge naturally from human society, analogous to traffic laws regulating behavior.

Humanism Versus Mystrikism
Leslie Allan responds to Duncan McDonald's allegations that humanism is anthropocentric, full of hubris and lacking a spiritual dimension.

Humanism Versus Sentientism
Leslie Allan considers Jamie Woodhouse's proposal to upgrade humanism to his redefined 'Sentientist' world view.

Sam Harris, Free Will and Moral Responsibility
Sam Harris mounts a case for the hard determinist position that free will is an illusion while allowing for a limited sense of moral responsibility. Leslie Allan mounts a comprehensive critique of Harris' arguments.

Book Review: Free Will by Sam Harris
Leslie Allan gives his overall impression of Harris' book in addition to casting a critical eye over his key arguments for jettisoning the idea of free will while retaining the notion of moral responsibility.

Commentary: Free Will by Sam Harris
Leslie Allan provides a page-by-page commentary on Harris' critique in his Free Will of genuine human freedom and on his attempted reconstruction of the notion of moral responsibility.

Determinism, Morality and Human Relationships
Leslie Allan shares his perspective on the implications of a deterministic framing of behaviour for morality and human relationships.

Can Utilitarianism Ground Human Rights?
Are universal human rights real? How do we resolve conflicts between them? Leslie Allan seeks to show how the moral theory of utilitarianism provides a neat and satisfying solution.

Bayes' Theorem and Theory Appraisal
Can the failed subjective interpretation of 'probability' by Bayesians be replaced with an objective view that more adequately quantifies the degree of support offered by evidence for a scientific theory?

Propositional Logic – A Primer
This tutorial is for beginners wanting to learn the basics of propositional logic; the simplest of the formal systems of logic. Learn about the nature of arguments, formal proofs, logical operators, rules of inference and more.

Problems with God's Attributes
Read a summary listing of the logical paradoxes generated and conflicts between the perfection-making divine attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, omnibenevolence, immutability.

A Case Against Omniscience: Fallibility
Leslie Allan sets out an argument showing how any being that thinks himself all-knowing may be either deluded or deceived. Omniscience is, therefore, impossible.

A Case Against Omniscience: Infinite Regress
In two independent arguments, Leslie Allan tries to show how the concept of omniscience leads to an infinite regress that ultimately leads to self-contradictions.

Also, check out the latest additions to our philosophy glossary and science glossary.