About Me
- Russell Blackford
- Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).
4 comments:
That is really a very reasonable, balanced set of reviews. I got the feeling that the Reverend actually has more sympathy for your book than he does Craig's.
As I always point out when I get the chance, these nice Anglicans, etc., aren't our enemies. Although I've recently read the latest book by my old sparring partner Bishop Tom Frame, which got more annoying as it went on.
I was quite refreshed to read the reasonable review. If only more Christians would be willing to engage intellectually with non-religious people. Perhaps we could blame the media for only reporting on the extremists?
In any case I'm now intrigued and will hunt down your book.
Of particular interest is his review of Markham:
I am not entirely won over by the argument that belief in moral values must require belief in a deity. [...] Even if we agree with Markham that the affirmation of ethical rules and values requires a belief in an objective moral order, and even if we accept that only God can underwrite an objective morality, we still have to demonstrate how an obscure Middle-Eastern carpenter is also the infinite author of all that is good and true.
I like that he discriminates among these arguments. Having always lived in the southeastern United States, I can only dream of a community in which a typical Christian thinks this way.
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