This clip actually addresses my concern about the political vs. the philosophical. It describes Armstrong’s intellectual evolution from skeptic to sympathetic historian.
-Mark
Armstrong on Approaching Religious Texts
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The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don't have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we're talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion. Discuss episodes and provide feedback here or via our Facebook group. You can also e-mail comments to mark@marklint.com or wesalwan@gmail.com.
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#1 by Wes Alwan on August 19, 2010 - 1:59 pm
love her.
“a definite … Dawkins-esque tinge to my work.”
#2 by Wes Alwan on August 19, 2010 - 1:59 pm
and I’m picking up the book now
#3 by Daniel Horne on August 19, 2010 - 4:28 pm
Hi all,
Enjoying this discussion immensely. The journalist and evolutionary psychology scholar Robert Wright has generated a fair amount of smart God talk. I particularly enjoyed the following clips…
…interviewing Karen Armstrong on her book, The Great Transformation:
http://meaningoflife.tv/video.php?speaker=armstrong&topic=complete
(Interesting because he directly poses to her the question “Can an abstracted impersonal God provide religious solace?”)
…interviewing former Cambridge physics professor and Anglican priest Rev. John Polkinghorne:
http://meaningoflife.tv/video.php?speaker=polkinghorne&topic=complete
(Interesting because of Polkinghorne’s prior physics background, but also his determination to believe in a personal god despite its absurdities, because doing so is “less misleading”.)
…discussing his own recent book, The Evolution of God, with economics professor and NYT columnist Tyler Cowen:
http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/20509
(Interesting mostly because Tyler Cowen is just an intelligent and interesting guy.)
FWIW.
#4 by Wes Alwan on August 19, 2010 - 4:53 pm
Thanks Daniel, will check those out.