The study of religion and religious ideas.
“If sex is indispensable in reproduction and was made so by God, can we say that the Holy Spirit had sex with Mary?” Thank you, Edet Ukpabio Esiet! Questions at the cross-section of philosophy and theology are difficult, and your question nicely highlights that. Since you framed the question in terms of Mary and the […]
Did the Holy Spirit have sex with Mary? Read More
Thank you for this fundamental question, Sabir Khan. It is however a loaded question, that is, it rests on at least two problematic assumptions: first, that the soul exists and, second, that it is located at all. We will have to look at both in order to tackle your question. Whether it is plausible to
Where is the human soul located? Read More
Thank you, Kurt Elarcosa! A classic question, and timely too! If ever there was a year that prompted a question like this, it’s 2020. Let’s get to it. First, we need to distinguish between evil and suffering, as they are actually mutually exclusive. Physical suffering, pain, can come from growth or healing, as in growing
Why does an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God allow evil and suffering? Read More
Thank you, Ali Muràád Bàloç, for such an interesting question. To understand what one might mean by ‘cultural shift’, we first need to understand what we mean by ‘culture’. Friedrich Nietzsche described human beings as orphans of nature because, compared to other animals, we are all but devoid of instincts. Unlike other animals, humans are
What is a cultural shift? Read More
Thank you, Gum Makur Gum, for such a perennial question! What does it mean to exist? Until Kant, many philosophers thought that existence was a property of a substance, much like color, weight, mass, etc. Saying that “This flower is red” was similar to saying that “This flower exists”, meaning that the flower had the
Thank you, Al Esperida, for such a profound question. We would all love to know what happens when our hearts stop beating. Even here in the secularized West, where the afterlife is dealt with only through horror movies and too-good-to-be-true TV mediums, it is a question which privately gnaws at most thinking people. But let’s
How would knowing there is life after death affect our daily lives? Read More
Thank you, John Presley, for a great question and a great opportunity to reflect upon the fluid and slippery nature of our cultural icons. As good Aristotelians, we need to break down the question in order to get to the truth. We can start by defining the term icon. We get the word from the
What makes an artist an icon? Read More
Thank you, Bálint Birkás, for a great question! It is a question that I often ask myself whenever I hear about a new useless invention in the news. Looking at those, you could be tempted to say that the point of science and technology is to develop science and technology, just because we can. But
What is the point of science and technology? Read More
Thank you, Gnanak Gerhardson Munnangi, for such a deep question. With its increasing development in various fields, Artificial Intelligence resembles more and more its sci-fi representations from novels and movies of the last century. Some philosophers and scientists, such as Nick Bostrom, believe that once AI reaches the level of human intelligence, it will rapidly
Can the AI be considered a God? Read More
Thank you, Ohkaydeh, for asking such a timeless question! The answer to this question depends on your conception of God, assuming that God does indeed exist and created the universe. The benefit of being a philosopher is that we can be creative and not worry too much about theology or committing various heresies. So, I
What’s the reason God created humans? Read More
