In conversations with Christians (and members of other religious groups), more often than not I'm asked on what grounds atheism can claim to have an objective morality. This isn't a new question, but it is one I don't feel properly equipped to answer well. I think reason and our intuitions can aid us in finding objective moral truths, but I often find myself at a loss articulating a good defense. I do not find the theist's claim that morality depends on God's existence a good one, but I want to advance a better argument for why secular morality works out, and not just knock down their view. What's the general consensus among philosophers? Is there a firm foundation for morality without God?

Is there a way to prove that logic works? It seems that the only two methods for doing this would be to use a logical proof –which would be incorporating an assumed answer into the question– or to use some system other than logic –thus proving that sometimes logic does not work.

What is time? My friend and I are having an argument about the nature of time. If I understand her position correctly my friend believes that time is simply an artefact of changes in the universe, or that change is itself synonymous with time. This seems to be a commonly accepted position, however I replied that if two spheres were moving in space in parallel to one another but one sphere was moving faster than the other then that would mean that that sphere would traverse a greater distance in less time but with an equal degree of change in the universe. Thus time and change are two separate things. I guess the physics of that claim are debatable but I suspect that it demonstrates something true in a way that is a priori irrespective of the physics because even if there were a physical difference in the amount of forces which change it would be hard to see how those imperceptible forces would contribute to a difference in how we perceive the time effect of those different objects. What do you...

I intend to write an assignment (approx. 20 pages) about justice and economic doctrines (among other things, distribution of wealth) where I will attempt to explain/elucidate how different economical doctrines(capitalism, social democracy and socialism) attempt to carry out a fair and just society. All of this would, of course, also requiree to explicit how these economical doctrines perceive justice in the first place. And by this, I may also very well define justice on a ore philosophical context, as I am dealing with what pertains to moral philosophy. Overall, I would like to give a thorough, but concise account of the subject. Cutting to the chase, do you have any suggestions on possible sources of book that I make use of? By the way, I have already made plenty of considerations on possible sources, though I thought 'better safe than sorry.' Thank you in advance!

Hello, I am reading Tolstoy's My Confession for my philosophy class and had a question about it. What does he mean when he says "What meaning has my finite existence in this infinite world"? I understand what he means by the 'finite', but what is the meaning behind the 'infinite'? Does he just mean the unknown? Thanks David

I was recently speaking with someone who had an argument about whether time exists or not. Time Dilation is often put forward as proof that time exists and that it is not merely a figment of imagination of mankind. But this person argued that by believing this, we are making a self-contained assumption about time. He argued that time is actually just the measurement of change that occurs in an object relative to constant natural phenomena. For instance, atomic clocks measure the microwave emissions of changing electrons, and older clocks measure the degree of the earth's rotation. He suggests that it is a huge and erroneous jump to say that these things measure anything other than what is stated i.e. emissions of changing electrons or the degree of the earth's rotation, and that to say that they measure a force or external entity that is time is simply illogical. And I would be inclined to agree. I watched a Stephen Hawking program where he discussed the possibility of time travel. He spoke about the...

Can rationality be explained? Sometimes I think that it can, it is just something like non-contradiction. But sometimes I think it can't, since any explanation of rationality will have to assume it. ?

What is the philosopher's response to the anthropic principle? (which, if I recall correctly, states that the universe "had to" evolve in a certain manner, otherwise we would not be here to ask these questions about it!) Is it dismissed as basically a tautology? or is there something more substantive behind it?

Is it wrong to continue to pursuit someone romantically (like ask them out regularly) if they never agree to go out (i.e. make different excuses why they cant), but they never out right say they are not interested and they always return (but never initiate) text messages in a very friendly way.

Is it racist to assert that violence within African-American communities is driven more by cultural factors than economic factors?