Stalking the New Inquisitors …

… Maverick Philosopher: Should Nagel's Book Be on the Philosophical Index Librorum Prohibitorum? (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

There has to be pushback against these people who want to shut down discussion, especially given the sort of imprecision Blackburn settles for. Take "creationism." Well, obviously, people of faith believe in a God who is also the Creator of all things visible and invisible. There are a lot of such people, some of whom — Owen Gingerich, John Polkinghorne — are pretty good scientists. There is, of course, what we shall call a creationist subset whose adherents believe that the Earth was created just a few thousand years ago. There aren't many of them. Then there's intelligent design. I don't subscribe to the current school of thought so-called. But I do take Aristotle seriously, and he is just one of many thinkers who doesn't regard being as having happened by chance. In short, the case is hardly as open and shut as ninnies like Blackburn would have you believe.