Every so often, while in a discussion about the correct interpretation of this or that passage in the Bible, a certain claim will be articulated. The claim goes something like this: If a Christian decides to treat a particular passage of Scripture as something other than a straightforward historical and/or scientific account, then they no longer have good reason for treating the central claims ...
I don't really have any specific way of guarding against cognitive bias myself, other than trying to think carefully and spend time in honest introspection. But it may at least be useful to know what some common cognitive biases are. That may make it a bit easier to guard against them. Here are just a few that are relevant to discussions of philosophy, apologetics, and argumentation. The one ...
In a previous post, I introduced the so-called "Is/Ought Problem," first made famous by David Hume. Hume argued that you cannot get from an "is" to an "ought"-- that is, you cannot argue from the way that things currently are, to the way that things ought to be. Or more generally, you cannot get from factual statements to evaluative statements. But this is exactly how ...