tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-369592192024-03-23T11:25:35.468-07:00Richard Carrier BlogsAnnouncing appearances, publications, and occasional thoughts on natural philosophy and ancient history by philosopher, historian, and author Richard Carrier.Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-64598821845479901472016-07-05T10:35:00.002-07:002016-07-05T10:36:12.641-07:00My Blog Has Moved Again!My new blog location is www.richardcarrier.info. I will maintain this old blog as a historical archive as I did before. But every other post I've blogged since is now at my home domain, including everything originally published at FreethoughtBlogs. And all my future blogging will be at richardcarrier.info from now on.Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-63766704957757623162011-11-30T13:53:00.000-08:002011-12-02T10:45:15.484-08:00Moving to FTB!Today I am freezing my Blogger account and moving my blog to Freethought Blogs, a prominent all-atheist venture. This move will help me earn an income doing what I do, and give my work a higher profile so it will do more good. To make my life manageable I won't be posting here anymore, nor accepting any new comments on posts archived here, but I will keep this account open in order to keep its Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-91326545471814290452011-10-28T16:08:00.000-07:002013-08-27T16:18:26.414-07:00Goal Theory Update
Here is the latest update on my moral theory work, for those keen on following it in-depth. This post is deliberately long, so those not so keen can skip this one. It assembles notes I've been sitting on for a while for lack of time to get them up.
On my last trip to St. Louis I debated a fellow atheist on my own goal theory of moral values vs. the desire utilitarianism of Alonzo Fyfe. That Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-89195705405923357412011-10-26T14:32:00.000-07:002011-10-26T14:32:19.779-07:00Back to AmazonJust FYI to all my fans and friends and others curious to know: California blinked and acquiesced in letting Amazon pay no sales tax in the state. So just as I said I would back in July, I've gone back to the Amazon Storefront and links, because Amazon is thousands of times superior to Barnes & Noble in quality, service, and functionality.
Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-5063992004249901682011-10-23T07:32:00.000-07:002011-10-23T07:32:46.463-07:00In Sacramento Today!I'm off to sell and sign my books at the Sacramento Freethought Day festival today (click link for details). I'll be hanging out at a table with David Fitzgerald. Come say hi! Buy a book! Support a starving philosopher-historian!
Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-28940784188716834322011-10-05T19:17:00.001-07:002017-05-11T09:56:38.166-07:00The Dying Messiah
This article has been superseded by a complete revision, The Dying Messiah Redux. The following is retained for historical purposes only. Readers interested in its argument should proceed to the new version.
As a bonus for those who funded my research on or are anticipating the publication of my two volumes on the historicity of Jesus, I have decided to summarize one of the many things I Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com68tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-89899630106333331482011-09-27T16:31:00.000-07:002011-09-27T16:31:00.502-07:00December CourseThis December, due to popular demand, I will be repeating the September online course I am wrapping up this week at CFI's online campus, teaching once again their one-month intro course The Real Origins of Christianity. Anyone can attend and receive a certificate of completion (though only students at UB receive college credit). It is all online and all flextime (you can work at any time of day Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-82555723495961197772011-09-15T09:14:00.000-07:002011-09-15T09:14:56.901-07:00Appearing in TallahasseeI will be speaking at the Center for Inquiry conference on "Science for Everyone" next month in Tallahassee, Florida, along with several other great speakers. Reception is Friday evening, 14 October (2011), 7:30-9:30pm, and the conference itself is Saturday, 15 October, from 8:30am to 5pm. Registration is $50 ($35 for students with a valid student ID), and a lunch is included. The event is at theRichard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-7089591043767922842011-09-14T19:12:00.000-07:002013-08-27T16:21:12.243-07:00Atheists in Foxholes
As a veteran I was asked to join the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers and I agreed wholeheartedly. This is an excellent outfit that anyone who is a nonbeliever and a veteran or in service should join, so the MAAF can have numbers to cite and a network of resources and eyes-on-the-ground to tap. They represent you, and your fellow godless servicemen and women, and with an Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-27919197278116008592011-08-19T14:20:00.000-07:002011-08-19T14:20:31.416-07:00Appearing in FargoI'm now confirmed as one of the featured speakers at the Fargo, North Dakota "Project 42 Conference" (click that link for all conceivable details), sponsored by the Red River Freethinkers, this September 23-25, with a Friday movie event, a Saturday series of talks (followed by a local debate and meetup that night), and a Sunday panel and activist seminar. I'll be joined by PZ Myers, Robert Price,Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-2903638987399354822011-08-17T15:22:00.000-07:002011-08-17T15:40:08.677-07:00Skepticon IVFor all you Midwes- tern godless out there, Skepticon IV is just months away. PZ and I are grandfathered in, so we'll definitely be speaking, along with many other awesome folk. Once again this irreverent ride is brought to you by the MSU Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and as always, in Springfield, Missouri.
The venue this time will be the Gillioz Theatre. Officially from Friday to Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-74645111637494258522011-08-08T17:41:00.000-07:002011-08-08T17:41:36.024-07:00September CourseThis September (in just a few weeks) I will be visiting lecturer at CFI's online campus, teaching their one-month intro course The Real Origins of Christianity alongside Dr. John Shook (we co-taught the last course, on naturalism). Anyone can attend and receive a certificate of completion (though only students at UB receive college credit). It is all online and all flextime (you can work at any Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-89173859994621450052011-07-31T14:52:00.001-07:002023-05-31T16:50:22.649-07:00The End of ChristianityThe End of Christianity (the long awaited sequel to The Christian Delusion) is now available in bookstores (and I'm assured will soon be available in kindle and other digital formats). Delusion was an awesome book. End is even better. Indeed, I think the two volumes together amount to a decisive refutation of Christianity. A bona fide litmus test. No rational person can read both volumes and not Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com76tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-89610185450994777522011-07-26T12:40:00.000-07:002011-07-26T12:41:48.840-07:00Atheist Film FestivalI'll be appearing at this year's Atheist Film Festival at the Roxy in San Francisco, California, to give a Q&A for the audience after the showing of the film Agora. The festival starts on Sunday, August 21 (2011) at 10am. There will be two screens with different things running concurrently. For more details (including directions, tickets, etc.) see the SF Atheist Film Festival website.
If Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-69291973996496239112011-07-08T10:53:00.000-07:002013-08-27T16:22:49.017-07:00Amazon Dumps Us
Now that California has signed into law a tax reform that counts internet business associations as establishing legal "nexus" for state taxes to apply, Amazon has dumped all of its California internet sales associates. That means I can no longer earn a commission on referring you to Amazon to buy my books, or other books that I think are worth reading (which I had been doing in my Richard Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-71892707681806319682011-06-14T09:11:00.000-07:002013-08-27T16:23:13.369-07:00Calling All PhysicistsOver the years I have been mulling a problem in metaphysics: the ontological mysteries of Quantum Mechanics. I have been developing a theory in this regard (see, for example, The Ontology of Time and my unresolved alternatives in Sense and Goodness without God, pp. 98-99, III.4.1), and now, informed by some recent discoveries and publications in the sciences (and finally a stronger understanding Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-61129956292298355702011-06-06T14:35:00.000-07:002011-06-06T14:35:00.145-07:00New Podcast & VidsI recently did an interview for the Think Atheist podcast, which is now available. We discuss historical method generally, how historians work and what makes their work logically valid, including discussion of Bayes' Theorem and the philosophy of history, and the completion schedule of my four books currently in progress (one of which is completed and now under contract at a publisher and in the Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-19698232104228140302011-06-01T20:07:00.000-07:002013-08-27T16:23:30.722-07:00Pauline Interpolations
In the New Testament, at least two passages have been interpolated into the letters of Paul: 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. Today I'll present the evidence for this conclusion that most experts have long known about, but most laymen never hear.
For those not savvy to the study of ancient manuscripts (called textual criticism), an "interpolation" is a word or passage that Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-19263232819985538782011-05-30T15:02:00.000-07:002013-08-27T16:23:58.733-07:00Sources of the Jesus Tradition
Several months ago the papers of the 2008 Amherst conference finally appeared in print. Sort of. I have a lot of problems with this, and the following is a review of the successes and failures of the new book Sources of the Jesus Tradition: Separating History from Myth (Prometheus Books 2010).
I've been working on this review for a long time, but too many other matters kept taking precedence Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-59703232669211792512011-05-11T10:37:00.000-07:002013-08-27T16:25:33.857-07:00Mark 16:9-20A good long while ago I completed a contract job to produce a thoroughly researched and argued case against the authenticity of the verses in Mark 16:9-20, which the mainstream consensus has long since rejected as an interpolation but fundamentalists keep trying to rescue. The final product has now finally been published at Errancy Wiki (which years ago also published a concise summary of my caseRichard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-79275554554122180042011-04-01T09:38:00.000-07:002011-05-16T08:11:39.344-07:00Lead Tablets of Jesus!Many are asking about the mysterious new lead tablets (the Jordan Lead Codices) "suddenly" uncovered that supposedly are going to change the world, proving all sorts of weird things about the first generation of Christianity. I hear according to Glenn Beck, they are the mysterious coded books referred to in the book of Revelation! Holy Sheit!
Not. All the media stories misquote people, and then Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-83336828389620253832011-03-29T10:40:00.000-07:002011-03-29T10:40:00.941-07:00Appearing in St. LouisI'll be in St. Louis, Missouri the first week of May on a whirlwind tour of four events on three days. I'll be selling and signing my books at all three venues. And all do ask for small donations.
(1) First is a debate in the Responsible Public Debate series held by the Ethical Society of St. Louis (which I hear is the largest ethical society in the nation) on Tuesday, May 3, from 7pm to 9pm. Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-9549340441863371642011-03-28T13:17:00.000-07:002013-08-27T16:26:27.950-07:00Is Obama a War Criminal?
I'd like to post today some (hopefully) educational and philosophical thoughts on a major current event of considerable importance, on which every American should be well informed.
There has been much said of late (by both liberals and conservatives, even on the usually well-informed Daily Show) to the effect that Obama is a war criminal, because his aerial assault on Libya was Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com145tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-36630464768059669392011-03-25T08:52:00.000-07:002011-03-25T08:52:49.129-07:00Appearing in Orange CountyA day after my Riverside appearance I'll also be speaking to the Orange County Backyard Skeptics in Villa Park, California (at 7pm, Thursday, April 14). To attend (and get the venue address--it's held literally in a member's private but lovely backyard) you must be a member of their meetup group (which you can join here), or personally invited by a member. Suggested donation is $5 (or $10 if Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36959219.post-2942879544536621242011-03-24T09:40:00.000-07:002011-03-24T09:40:55.147-07:00Appearing in WichitaThat's right, I'll be speaking on Rapture Day! What's that, you ask? Here's the official announcement, from the event organizers (the Air Capital Skeptics and the Secular Student Alliance):
Rapture Day is going to be a day of great speakers giving presentations with a focus on religion and how it relates to various doomsday claims. The event will be held at the Wichita State University CAC Richard Carrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17577206926510030146noreply@blogger.com2