Ep. #165 – A Response to Ben Watkins’ Opening Statement w/ Pat Flynn
Summary
In this episode, Pat Flynn sits down with John to respond to Ben Watkins’ opening statement in his debate with Trent Horn. In particular, they examine definitions of theism and naturalism, an argument from simplicity, an argument from imperfection, and an argument from modal collapse. See the timestamps below for more details.
Guest Bio
Pat Flynn is a generalist who helps people get good at many things. He is a writer, philosopher, business coach, and fitness coach. He’s also a black belt and a Catholic. He writes at chroniclesofstrength.com and is the author of many books, including How to Be Better at (Almost) Everything and an eBook How to Think About God.
Topics
- 0:00:00 – Intro, preliminaries, and Pat’s research updates
- 00:11:20 – Definitions and characterizing naturalism, theism, and classical theism
- 00:22:55 – Response to Ben’s Argument from simplicity
- 00:53:28 – Response to Ben’s argument from imperfection (broad responses)
- 01:07:04 – Response to the argument from divine hiddenness
- 01:29:29 – Response to the problem of apparently gratuitous evils
- 01:38:45 – Response to the problem of evolutionary animal suffering
- 01:47:38 – Response to modal collapse
- 02:02:22 – Pat’s closing remarks
- 02:05:29 – Outro comments and show notes link
Resources
How to Think about God by Pat Flynn (eBook)
Overcoming the Problem of Divine Hiddenness w/ Dr. Steven Napier (episode of Pat’s podcast)
Pat Flynn’s recent article Responding to the Cumulative Case for Atheism
Freedom of Choice by Ives R. Simon
Pat Flynn’s Resource Round-up on Modal Collapse arguments
Is there a God? A Debate by Kenneth Pearce and Graham Oppy
Christopher Tomaszewski Responds to Modal Collapse (podcast)
Ep. #126 – The Problem of Animal Suffering w/ Dr. Kyle Keltz
Ep. #127 – A Jesuit’s Take on Animal Suffering w/ Fr. Christopher Steck S.J.
Related Episodes
OFFICE Hours|Common Objections to DDS w/ Pat Flynn
OFFICE HOURS|Slogans, Evil, PSR, & Predestination w/ Pat Flynn
Ep. #133 – Negative Theology and Philosophical Analysis w/ Dr. Simon Hewitt
