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  Harry G. Frankfurt

Over the years, my friend Nathan Tierney and I have had a long interchange on a number of issues.  He’s frequently tempted me, with great finesse, to reconsider my initial intuitions. So now that my current project on spiritual autonomy has nudged me towards a compatibilist position on the question of freewill, Nathan once again has pointed out some angles worth considering:

“The main problem that libertarians have with compatibilists is that it is simply hard determinism in disguise, and is also incompatible with a Christianity for which free will is central.”

Both these points are worth engaging in a serious way, though philosophers these days typically ignore the second. But that’s where I’d like to start.

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Tony Robbins

Part 1

Jacob Brezak, one of the best students I’ve ever taught, has gotten on board the motivational speaker circuit, and has developed quite a following on Facebook (“Life is Beautiful”).  He’s been inspired by Tony Robbins and has assured me that Tony Robbins is the real thing.  I’ve resisted his assurances, given what I thought I already knew.  Yet, out of curiosity and loyalty, I decided to give Tony Robbins a second look.

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This blog is intended to be a collection of observations, intuitions and rational reflections related to a larger project.  For now I’m calling that project “SPIRITUAL AUTONOMY: FOR AND AGAINST EVANGELICALISM.”  It’s wider-ranging than the name may suggest — though on second thought, maybe not, since most important topics these days, at least in the humanities and social sciences, are considered inter-disciplinary; and even the hard sciences seem not as “hard” as they used to be.Read More →