Every week at Praxis, participants and alumni gather for Praxis Wednesdays, weekly group sessions designed to hone intellectual ability and build practical skills applicable to the professional world. These sessions cover everything from academic subjects — philosophy, history, and economics — to technical skills participants can use in their careers — such as writing, marketing, sales, communication, organization, and general business proficiency. Many weeks we’re joined by guest speakers, and other weeks we engage in open dialogue and debate.
Back in January, Steve Patterson joined us to lead a debate on logical proofs for the existence of God. The call was so good we invited him back for a second session. Here’s the rundown:
Call Title: An Argument for the Existence of God, Pt. 2
About the Guest: Steve Patterson is a philosopher and author working independent of academia. He’s the author of Square One: the Foundations of Knowledge, a book outlining the basis of his philosophy. Because he isn’t limited to any specific field, Steve’s research spans a vast array of philosophical disciplines, including logic and epistemology, metaphysics, political theory and economics, mathematics, the philosophy of mind, religion, and social commentary and criticism.
Steve says: “In my own research, I have discovered a remarkably consistent truth: orthodox opinions are almost always wrong. The “mainstream consensus” on any given topic – whether about political theory or quantum physics – frequently makes foundational errors. Thus, my worldview looks radical when compared to the mainstream.”
According to Steve, there are a lot of bad arguments for the existence of God, but there are also some good ones. In this call, Steve took the position that God (or some prime mover) does exist, argued against the concept of infinity, and dug into the definition of theism vs. deism.
Recommended Reading (from Steve):
- Roderick Long on reconciling theism and atheism (what he calls “theological logicism”)
- Article explaining why 1+2+3+4+5… does not equal negative 1/12th
- Yours truly on Zeno’s paradoxes, and
- The logical shenanigans of “convergence” in calculus
- A great debate between a rational mathematician and an orthodox mathematician about the nature of infinity.
To find out more about the guest:
- Steve Patterson’s website: http://steve-patterson.com/
- Steve Patterson’s book: Square One: The Foundations of Knowledge