For this episode, we interview philosopher Dr. Felipe Leon on the topic of Mitigated Modal Skepticism, the view that our modal knowledge is limited to the mundane.  It seeks to the ground our modal knowledge in empirical sources, such as observation and observation-sensitive theory. This would mean our modal knowledge can not be extended to possibilities critical to a large variety of theistic arguments. We end up covering a number of related topics in the philosophy of religion. Felipe also...

In this episode, the Bens get a fresh perspective from Zach Christ, a Muslim from America who now lives in Turkey. During the interview, Zach and the Bens compare and contrast the beliefs and philosophical defenses of Islam and Christianity, delving into the concepts of God, miracles, and the afterlife. They also discuss people's attitudes toward Islam in America and Turkey.

We're back with a new episode! This time we tackle the Argument from Motion as presented in Ed Feser's book "Five Proofs of the Existence of God".

In this episode the Real Atheologians interview Jason Thibodeau about the famous Euthyphro Dilemma and how to respond to apologists who try to split the dilemma.  Jason is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Cypress College.

This is a follow-up episode on the Kalam Cosmological Argument where we interview philosopher Alex Malpass about his upcoming paper, co-authored with Wes Morriston, on the Kalam. Among other things, we discuss potential vs. actual/completed infinities, beginningless pasts, endless futures, and symmetry breakers. We'd also like to apologize to our Patreons, this episodes our return to properly thanking each of you at the end of the episode. 

In this episode the Real Atheologians interview philosopher Dr. Graham Oppy.  We discuss the Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism, defining naturalism, the Modal Ontological Argument, and a number of issues in contemporary philosophy of religion.

This is a new beginning for Real Atheology as Ben Watkins welcomes Ben Bavar and John Lopilato as new co-hosts to the cast. Justin Schieber has taken a break from philosophy of religion in general to focus on college. We’ve decided to start things off with a Big Bang by tackling the Kalam Cosmological argument!

Today I interview Dr. Scott Davison. Dr. Davison is professor of philosophy at Morehead State University where he specializes in Metaphysics, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion. Dr. Davison and I connected back in May of last year at a conference here in Grand rapids - a science and religion dialogue for which he was the keynote speaker. The presentation was on his recently released a book titled Petitionary Prayer; a Philosophical Investigation. I really enjoyed his analysis and had to have...

In this episode, Ben Watkins sits down with philosopher Dr. Erik Wielenberg in Raleigh, NC immediately after his debate with philosopher Dr. William Lane Craig at NC state University. The debate, held on February 23rd, 2018, was on the question of what better explains objective moral values and duties. Wielenberg defended a form of godless normative realism while Craig defended a modified divine command theory. The discussion surveys the arguments and responses used in the debate as well as a...

Skeptical Theism is a philosophical position about our ability to make meaningful inferences about what God, if such a being exists, is likely to create or allow. In this episode, Ben and Justin discuss one particular version of Skeptical Theism and the implications it has on arguments from evil and a few other issues as well.

Rather than a live debate, what you are about to hear is an audio performance of an already written debate that’s been going on behind the scenes for the last month or so in the form of a series of essays written in reply to each other. The debate was on the problem of evil and it was between Justin Schieber and Cameron Bertuzzi. The debate clocks in at about an hour.

In this episode Ben Watkins interviews philosopher Dr. Paul Moser. Dr. Moser is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. Professor Moser has published over 80 articles and authored many books including The Elusive God and The Evidence for God; Religious Knowledge Reexamined. Professor Moser’s research interests include epistemology, metaphilosophy, and the philosophy of religion. The interview touches on issues of religious epistemology, the hiddenness of God, and even natural...

A few weeks back I was delighted to have the opportunity to interview Dr. Quentin Smith. We sat down not far from the Western Michigan University Campus where he was professor of philosophy from 1993 until he retired in 2015. Dr. Smith received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Antioch College and his PhD in philosophy from Boston College. He has written and published over 140 articles and has written and co-written several books including one with William Lane Craig titled Theism,...

For this episode, we interview Dr. Felipe Leon on the metaphysical possibility of creation ex nihilo - or creation ‘out of nothing’. This is an indispensable metaphysical doctrine to classical theists. Dr. Felipe Leon is professor of philosophy at El Camino College in Torrance, CA. He received his M.A and Ph.D at University of California Riverside, and his current research interests are in philosophy of religion and modal epistemology. Recently, Dr. Leon co-edited and contributed to a...

For this episode, Ben Watkins and Justin Schieber interview Counter Apologist on the moral argument. The moral argument is an argument about moral ontology and includes a premise which states, if God exists, objective moral values and duties do not exist. We discuss various strategies for interacting with this argument.

Youtuber Ozymandias Ramses joins Justin Schieber and Ben Watkins to discuss competing contemporary definitions of atheism. Agnosticism and the burden of proof or justification are also discussed.

For this episode of Real Atheology, Justin Schieber and Ben Watkins interview philosopher Wes Morriston. Dr. Morriston earned his PhD in philosophy from Northwestern University in 1972 and was a professor of philosophy at University of Colorado, Boulder from 1972-2014 when he retired as Emeritus Professor of Philosophy. Prof Morriston specialized in philosophy of religion. In the interview we discuss a variety of topics including a supposed tension that exists between a belief in what is...

In this episode, Justin Schieber sits down with philosopher Evan Fales to talk about some of his work on the problem of evil as well as how he became interested in issues in philosophy of religion. Dr. Fales is professor emeritus at University of Iowa. Professor Fales' research interests include philosophy of science, metaphysics, epistemology, and most relevant to today's episode, philosophy of religion. RealAtheology.com YouTube Facebook Twitter Patreon Paypal

Cory Markum joins Ben Watkins to discuss some questions about normativity. Many apologists put forward moral arguments for the existence of God which claim that atheism implies some form of moral nihilism. While both Ben and Cory do not find these arguments persuasive, Cory is not so sure about the view that is often called "moral realism." This view states that there are mind independent moral truths about what actions are good and bad, right and wrong, and virtuous and vicious. Ben, on the...

Oxford philosophy student Josh Parikh joins Justin Schieber to discuss Josh’s rejection of a key premise in Schellenberg’s Hiddenness Argument (previously discussed in RA004). The premise, which states that there do in fact exist persons who are non-resistantly in a state of non-belief about God’s existence, is largely taken to be true by most philosophers of religion. RealAtheology.com YouTube Facebook Twitter Patreon Paypal

If an all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good God exists, how does one explain the existence, intensity, and distribution of moral and natural suffering in our world? In this episode, Justin Schieber and Christian theist Timothy Arndt square off for a lively philosophical debate on the age-old puzzle that surrounds God and suffering. The debate was held at Grand Valley State University’s Allendale campus in the Cook DeWitt Center Auditorium on March 2, 2017. Hosted by Center for...

Ever since philosopher John Schellenberg published Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason in 1993, the argument from divine hiddenness has received an immense amount of attention from philosophers and laypersons. This episode features a lengthy interaction between Justin Schieber and Blake Giunta of beliefmap.org. The interaction was hosted on Unbelievable with its ever-gracious host, Justin Brierley. YouTube Facebook Twitter Patreon Paypal

All creatures that exist in the actual world are finite creatures - that much is obvious. If God exists, he has created them. But should the fact of their finitude count against theism? Does theism lead us to expect to observe fundamentally different beings? In this episode, Justin Schieber and Canadian theologian Randal Rauser dialogue on these questions and more. YouTube Facebook Twitter Patreon Paypal

After the apparent demise of a popular version of the logical problem of evil, philosopher William Rowe sought to resurrect the problem of evil in an inductive form. The result was his 1979 article titled The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism. In this episode, Justin Schieber and Ben Watkins have an in-depth dialogue about that important article. YouTube Facebook Twitter Patreon Paypal  

In the first installment of the Real Atheology Podcast, we discuss our plans for the show as well as the benefits that the podcasting format has over Youtube with regard to the kinds of long-form philosophical discussion we're after. RealAtheology.com YouTube Facebook Twitter Patreon Paypal