Some deep discussion of causality and metaphysics. My refutation of this “First Cause” argument for God appears in the comments under “Sword of Apollo.”
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[Note: Jacob T. Brunton is philosophically sophisticated and usually argues civilly. These characteristics led me to give him the benefit of every doubt when it came to intellectual honesty. I am not one who is quick to judge such a person an incorrigible evader or intellectually dishonest, since I think that there are many deep, yet honest errors that smart people can make in thinking about philosophy. But through argument with Mr. Brunton on multiple occasions, I have been given the evidence to conclude, beyond any doubt, that he is not honest in his philosophical viewpoints; especially in his regard for the Bible.
My past discussions with Mr. Brunton can still be informative to others, and so I will leave them as they are. But he will no longer be allowed to comment on this blog, and I will make no further comments in direct response to him on any blog. — 6-27-2013]
Thanks for explaining that you were refuting the argument. In your comment, you posted exactly the logical response which I took and which everyone should have taken.
I’m not an ARI fan, and I do think that so-called open objectivism is more sensible than rejecting a priori anything which seems to disagree with Ayn Rand. However, there is no place for theists in a rational world, and there is definitely no room for them in the intellectual realm of objectivism. We already have too many terrible misrepresentations of Rand’s brilliant philosophy in the popular culture; for example, Paul Ryan has the audacity to say that he is a Rand follower????!?!?!?!?! He’s anti-choice, pro-big&abusive government, and pro-faith. NOTHING he does or says is objectivist, and it only confuses people who don’t know anything about Ayn Rand’s philosophy. I wish that irrational people who misunderstand objectivism would stop identifying with it, and bloggers like the one you linked truly make me sad.
‘Thanks for explaining that you were refuting the argument. In your comment, you posted exactly the logical response which I took and which everyone should have taken.’
Glad to be appreciated.
‘I’m not an ARI fan, and I do think that so-called open objectivism is more sensible than rejecting a priori anything which seems to disagree with Ayn Rand.’
The “closed system” view of Objectivism is not about “rejecting a priori anything which seems to disagree with Ayn Rand,” or about denying further philosophical insights. Any Objectivist, properly so-called, comes to agreement with Rand’s principles through first-hand observation and analysis. (See: The Proper Intellectual Attitude of an Objectivist.) Rather, the “closed system” is about clarity, honesty and justice in philosophy. (See: Ayn Rand on David Kelley.)