Philosophy

I’m a critical realist which means I believe in things which cohere and which correspond to reality. If pushed, I’d say correspondence is more important than coherence because quantum physics, relativity and uncertainty principles are hardly coherent (at least to me) but seem to correspond well with observation. In short, truth is supposed what IS out there.

I’m not an empiricist because I recognise that people know things apart from experience and observation. People have intuition and instinct and they correctly deduce truths without observing them. While I am wary of “philosophizing” i.e. speculating endlessly about things we cannot know, I am keen on discussing and debating ideas about reality (the way things ARE) and, more importantly about morality (the way things SHOULD be).

I’m not a theist because I don’t believe in an interventionist God. I’m not a deist because I think an uninvolved deity is, for all practical purposes, irrelevant. I’m a humanist in the sense of having a reverence for all human life, and I’m very concerned for the poor and vulnerable.

I’m politically liberal.

I believe in Jesus’ vision for a new social order.

I guess I’m an atheist for Jesus.

I don’t like labels.