Well, there’s not much to say this week. I’ve spent the last few days marking essays and today I’m going to embark on getting a paper ready for submission to an appropriate journal.
And then, thesis work.
On Sunday Jose is going to interview me over the upcoming adult education course I will be teaching (on Conspiracy Theories). Yes, it’s probably akin to advertising but, then again, I have no idea what Jose is going to ‘grill’ me on so it could end up being mighty informative and completely off-topic.
For those of you not in the know, there is going to be a rather interesting talk this coming Tuesday (the 17th) by Dr. William Lane (squaring off Dr. Bill Cooke) entitled ‘Is God a Delusion?’ Lane is a fierce critic of Dawkins and, by all accounts, not just a very good public speaker but also a very good philosopher. This is, for some, a bit startling, because Lane is also a fervent Christian.
It should prove to be a very interesting spectacle.
Moot: Is God a Delusion?
17 Jun 2008
Presenter John Bishop
Department Philosophy
Venue OGGB5
Time 7pm to 8pm
William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. William holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham (England) and a D.Theol from the University of Munich (Germany). He has authored or edited over thirty books including Assessing the New Testament Evidence for the Historicity of the Resurrection of Jesus; Atheism, Atheism and Big Ban Cosmology; and God, Time and Eternity. He has also written more than a hundred articles in professional journals of philosophy and theology. William was President of the Evangelical Philosophical Society from 1996-2005, and is currently President of the Philosophy of Time Society.
Bill Cooke, Senior Lecturer, Manukau Institue of Technology. Bill has a PhD in Religious Studies from Victoria University of Wellington. He became an active atheist and humanist in 1984. Bill has served as president of the NZ Rationalist and Humanist Assoication, and editor of the Rationalist and Humanist journal, The Open Society. He has also worked as director of programs for the Center for Inquiry and is a fellow of the committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion. His books include Heathen in Godzone: Seventy Years of Rationalism in New Zealand (1998) and A Dirctionary of Atheism, Skepticism and Humanism (2006).
For those of you not conversant in Uni lingo, OGGB5 is the Owen G Glenn building, lecture theatre 5.