philosophy

An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 16 – Final Exam Week – Part 3: Have you laughed at yourself today?

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Laughter is what happens when the ego trips over reality. It’s not about belittling yourself; it’s about forgiving yourself. It’s the pressure valve that releases the tension of our overinflated selves. Wanting peace while compulsively checking email. Seeking meaning while losing your keys. Laughter turns rigid beliefs into flexible ideas and reminds us that wisdom doesn’t always sound profound. Sometimes, it sounds like a snort-laugh at your own nonsense. And that’s freedom.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 10 – God 2 (Atheism) – Part 7: Summary – Heads or tails?

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After everything we’ve explored, there’s no clear answer. No airtight proof for or against God. Reasonable people, standing on opposite sides of the same question, each convinced they’re being honest. At the core, we’re not theists or atheists as much as we are agnostics with preferences. Faith doesn’t need certainty—doubt is its companion. The opposite of faith is not doubt, but knowledge—the kind that closes the conversation. Instead, we engage in abduction reasoning, trying to make sense of incomplete evidence. Some see God in the universe. Others don’t. Different stories, same data. The question of God might not be about solving a math problem but about how we reason, what we fear, what we hope, and the uncertainty we can live with.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 10 – God 2 (Atheism) – Part 3: Have you ever been in pain?

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Pain doesn’t ask permission. It doesn’t care about belief. It just is. The traditional view of God—powerful, all-knowing, and good—collides with the reality of suffering, leading us to ask: If God could intervene, why does so much pain remain untouched? The problem of evil isn’t a theological trick; it’s a question born from love. It’s the refusal to accept suffering as just the way things are. Sometimes, atheism begins with grief, with the painful recognition that a loving God who doesn’t intervene looks eerily like one who isn’t there at all. So, what do we do with a universe where pain is real, often undeserved, and the most compassionate response isn’t explanation—but presence?

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 10 – God 2 (Atheism) – Part 2: Does God have dissociative identity disorder?

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If God were a universal, fixed reality, why is there such discord over God’s nature? The contradictions within religious belief—peace and holy war, mercy and vengeance—are normalized. What we believe about God is often determined by where and when we were born, shaped by culture, language, and history. A God who deeply cares about being known correctly would leave less room for confusion. So the real question is: are we projecting different gods based on our geography, or is God truly fragmented across cultures?

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 10 – God 2 (Atheism) – Part 1: Introduction – Are You God?

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What if the God we believe in is a mirror of ourselves? The projection critique suggests that the image of God we carry often aligns with our values, fears, and needs. From ancient gods to modern-day life coaches, we project our desires, intuitions, and hopes onto a figure we imagine to be greater than ourselves. Philosophy invites us to examine our belief and ask: which parts of our God come from tradition, fear, love, and which come from us? Even if God exists, our ideas about God are still human artifacts—and if not, belief is still one of our most powerful ways of understanding ourselves.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 09 – God 1 (Theism) – Part 7: Summary – What’s your favorite color?

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The question isn’t whether we believe in God, but whether we recognize that God believes in us. Whether we’re believers or nonbelievers, the idea of God shows up in our values, our sense of meaning, and our relationships. The light doesn’t vanish because we describe it differently; it shines through in our actions, our resistance to meaninglessness, and our capacity for love. Whether we pray, doubt, or live quietly, the essence of God might not be in belief, but in the life we create and the love we give.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 09 – God 1 (Theism) – Part 6: What’s love got to do with it?

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Love isn’t a necessity for the universe to function, but it persists anyway. It disrupts the cold efficiency of survival and adds something deeper, more tender, to the story of existence. Metaphysics and philosophy ask whether love is a fluke of chemistry or a clue that the universe is more than machinery—it might be the very force that holds the system together, a source of connection, meaning, and goodness that can’t be explained away.

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 09 – God 1 (Theism) – Part 5: Feeling lucky?

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Pascal’s wager isn’t about proving God’s existence—it’s about recognizing that life is already a gamble. Whether we believe or not, we’re staking our time, values, and energy on something. Pascal argues that, given the stakes, betting on God is the most rational choice because it offers the highest possible payoff with the least risk. Philosophy invites us to consider: what are you already betting on, and what do you stand to gain or lose?

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 09 – God 1 (Theism) – Part 4: Who put this together?

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The teleological argument invites us to consider purpose in the universe. When we see design, we assume a designer. Whether it’s the intricacy of the eye or the precision of the physical constants, the universe seems to behave as if it’s aiming toward something. But does this point to a creator, or just a vast system of function? Philosophy asks: if the universe is designed, then for what? Is it for life, for consciousness, or for something else entirely?

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An Introduction to Philosophy (RLL style) Week 09 – God 1 (Theism) – Part 3: Which came first – the chicken or the God?

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The cosmological argument begins with an undeniable intuition: everything that begins has a cause. From the origins of the universe to the first domino falling, there must be a first cause – a push that set everything else in motion. This first cause, while not necessarily a personal deity, is where we begin to speak of “God.” The argument doesn’t prove a personality or intention; it simply points to the necessity of something that began the chain. The question is: what does that uncaused cause look like?

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