This week on Think Atheist Radio we have our chat with Dr. Jeremy Koons. Dr. Koons received his BA in the philosophy of religion from Viriginas Hampden-Sydney College, graduating Summa Cum Laude, before receiving a PhD in philosophy, with distinction, from Georgetown University. He has held positions at Auburn University, the American University of Beirut, Hong Kong University, and Massachusetts Stonehill College. Dr. Koons is now an associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Affairs in Qatar. With a particular focus on ethics and epistemology, his areas of interest include the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and logic. The author of Pragmatic Reasons: A Defense of Morality and Epistemology, he has also published numerous papers and presented at several conferences, while being recognized repeatedly with awards and fellowships. We asked Dr. Koons to join us to discuss a recently published paper (pdf) of his that asks the question, "Can Gods Goodness Save The Divine Command Theory from Euthyphro?" We discussed whether Christian ethics can be rescued from a dilemma for the theist where choosing one side results in meaninglessness, while choosing the other side results in an arbitrary morality that says that something is or isnt moral– including, for instance, the torture of infants– only insofar God says it is. Theist philosophers of religion recognize the risks here and have tried to come up with some ways to get around the dilemma. Can one solution in particular succeed?
morality

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god

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faith

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atheism

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Jeremy Koons
A distinguished chemist and co-author of the acclaimed Pross-Shaik model, Dr. Pross received both his BSc and PhD from the University of Sydney. He did his postdoctoral work at Kings College, London and the Hebrew University, Jerusalem before taking a position at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel where he was ultimately made Professor of Chemistry. Even while maintaining his position at Ben-Gurion University (indeed, while serving as the Chair of the Chemistry Department) he has held visiting positions at the worlds foremost institutions. These include the Lund University, Stanford University, Rutgers University, University of California at Irvine, University of Padova, the Australian National University Canberra, and his alma mater, the University of Sydney. He has the distinction of having been the invited plenary speaker to more than 60 conferences and universities. Until more recently, most of Dr. Pross research has focused on chemical reactivity and organic reaction mechanisms. Switching focus, he has become interested in investigating the mechanisms of the emergence of life from simple chemicals to complex biology. He is the author of over 100 research papers and an influential text on organic reactivity. We asked Dr. Pross to join us to discuss his newly published book, What is Life? How Chemistry Becomes Biology. Its a fascinating subject with implications for several issues of relevance to freethinkers. Dont miss it!
chemistry

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evolution

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abiogenesis

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biology

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Addy Pross
Dr. Paulos received his PhD in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin and is now a professor of that same subject at Temple University. Mathematical logic and probability has been the focus of of his academic work and the subject of many scholarly papers. The recipient in 2003 of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences Award for Promoting the Public Understanding of Science and Technology, Dr. Paulos has been a long time contributor to print, radio, and television media, including the New York Times, the London Review of Books, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, ABCs 20/20, CNNs Larry King Live, and more. He is the author of several popular level books, among which are Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences (a New York Times Best Seller), A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, and Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Dont Add Up. We asked Dr. Paulos to join us to get the thoughts of a mathematician on critical thinking and the arguments for God. Join us!
mathematics

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philosophy

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critical thinking

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religion

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John Allen Paulos
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