Difficulty: Beginner | This podcast requires little background in apologetics

Were you left wanting more after the previous podcast episode? So was I! Episode 15 to the rescue! If you’re just learning about the podcast, give episode 14 a listen first, otherwise what you hear may not make a whole lot of sense. In this episode we spend a lot of time talking about objections to the PSR (the principle of sufficient reason). We even discuss how Josh would have responded to one of Alex O’Connor’s (Cosmic Skeptic) key objections he raised in our debate on Unbelievable.

As a quick reminder, the argument from contingency is split into 2 stages. This is helpful because it allows us to keep track of where we are in the argument. Stage 1 is about establishing that a necessary being exists, while Stage 2 argues that this necessary being is God.

Dr. Josh Rasmussen

Joshua Rasmussen, Ph.D., is an associate professor of philosophy at Azusa Pacific University. His area of expertise is analytic metaphysics, with a focus on the foundations of existence and the philosophy of mind. He is author of Defending the Correspondence Theory of Truth, Necessary Existence (with Pruss), The Bridge of Reason, and How Reason Leads to God (forthcoming). Rasmussen values collaboration across disciplines and perspectives.

Check out his website here. He also has a really cool website that asks a series of questions that determine whether you’re already, perhaps unknowingly, committed to the existence of a necessary being. Take the survey and find out for yourself!

Episode 15

In this episode, we discuss and respond to the most common objections to principles of explanations like the PSR (e.g., the fallacy of composition, quantum mechanics, that only people who already accept theism will be moved by Stage 1, infinite regress, and so on). We even discuss how Josh would have responded to one of Alex O’Connor’s (Cosmic Skeptic) key objections he raised in our debate on Unbelievable.

Episode 15 features the second half of our discussion of Stage 1. Episodes 16 and 17 are dedicated to Stage 2.

Links mentioned during the show:

Dr. Rasmussen’s Testimony
Dr. Rasmussen’s “Worldview Design” YouTube channel
Cameron’s debate with Cosmic Skeptic on Unbelievable

To listen to this episode, just hit the play button below. It’s that simple! You can always subscribe and listen on iTunes. All of our episodes are pushed there for free.