Epistemology

There’s a difference between not believing in God and believing there is no God. It sounds like word games, but it matters. Not believing in God is like not believing in unicorns. You’ve heard the claims. You’ve seen no convincing evidence. So you don’t believe. You’re not making a positive claim about reality. You’re just not convinced by the arguments you’ve heard. Believing there is no God is different. That’s a positive claim about what exists....

I was reading a debate about animal rights the other day when I noticed something strange. The argument went like this: factory farming causes tremendous suffering to animals. Animals are sentient beings capable of pain. Therefore, we shouldn’t eat factory-farmed meat. It sounds reasonable enough. But there’s a peculiar little jump happening in that final step — one that a grumpy Scottish philosopher named David Hume spotted nearly 300 years ago....