A Note on the Problem of Induction

Induction is a thinking process where one makes conclusions by moving from the particular to the general. Arguments based on induction can range in probability from very low to very high, but always less than 100%. Here is an example of…

A Response to Tom Holland’s Defence of “Islam: The Untold Story”

On 31 August 2012, Tom Holland responded to the many complaints Channel 4 had received with regards to his recent documentary “Islam: The Untold Story” [1]. He made a number of points in his defence and the most important of…

A response to Channel 4′s “Islam: The Untold Story”

This paper is a response to the Channel 4 Programme “Islam: The Untold Story”, which was shown on Tuesday 28 August 2012 and presented by Tom Holland. The paper will address each of the main claims made by Holland. 1. The…

Professor Lawrence Krauss Agrees to Debate

The Big Debates has invited Professor Lawrence Krauss to debate the topic “Islam or Atheism: Which Makes More Sense?”. Professor Krauss has agreed to engage with us on this topic. The date and venue is yet to be finalised, however…

Individualism: Liberalism’s False Premise

Liberalism is a “disputatious family of doctrines”[1] which share the same core political values. These values are the priority of individual rights and an emphasis on individual freedoms; it can be argued that these values form Liberalism’s intellectual foundations. The…

Human Morality as a By-Product of Natural Selection

Is biology or natural selection a valid foundation for our sense of objective right and wrong? Charles Darwin provides us with an interesting “extreme example” of what it means when biology or natural selection forms the foundation of morality: “If…men…

Professor William Lane Craig and The Big Debates

The Big Debates team invited professor William Lane Craig to debate on Islam and Christianity. Unfortunately he has refused. We hope to arrange a discussion with the professor in the near future. This debate was of particular importance because Craig…

Atheism in the Eyes of an Eighteenth Century Writer

An antiquarian book entitled “The Evidences of the Christian Religion” published in 1753 has an interesting chapter on atheism. The following excerpt may offend, however the intention of this post is raise a question: has the discourse between theists and…

Atheism in the Early Period of Islamic History

In Western philosophy, the existence of the Divine, has been discussed by philosophers and theologians for centuries. Likewise, in Islamic philosophy the discussion took shape in the first 6th centuries of Islam. However, the discussion on the existence of the…

A Seventh Century War on Terror

“What is there now, I ask of delight in this world? Everywhere we observe strife; fields are depopulated, the land has returned to solitude. And yet the blows of Divine justice have no end, because among the blows those guilty…