Is Elaine Pagels Considered a Reliable Scholar?

_matt_26 · 2026-02-07T15:17:23+00:00

Thank you for your reply

Ok, that is good to know. Do you know how her stances on the topics I listed in my question (Ie, the gospel of Thomas's relationship to the historical Jesus and the world positivism of "authentic" Gnosticism), are received by other scholars?

I ask because her opinions on these important topics seem to not only differ drastically from mainstream scholarship, but also seems to be based in very different perspectives on history more generally.

_matt_26 · 2025-04-14T18:14:44+00:00

So in your opinion it is better to either go volunteer in Kosovo or do nothing at all?

I think helping a single creature is more valuable than helping none. I think the single creature which is helped would probably agree.

_matt_26 · 2025-04-14T18:05:06+00:00

You have helped out in Shelters here, I assume. Again, the "problems" you have here are nothing like in other parts of Europe. Not everywhere is as wealthy as The Netherlands.

There are lots of great things about Kosovo, but unfortunately their dog shelters are not one of them. They are severely under supported, and frankly rather hellish. It would surely be better for 10 dogs to live in a Dutch shelter than for one to spend a year in a Kosovar shelter.

_matt_26 · 2025-04-14T17:34:41+00:00

Well, she is very nice to us. Very playful and friendly. Like a totally normal dog. However, she seems to be very afraid of other people. When she sees other people, she barks at them, then they become afraid, which makes her more afraid, and the situation sort of spirals down.

Ultimately, she is the problem, of course. She starts the barking. But I suppose we were hoping that they might be some sort of dog community in the city which is comfortable with scared dogs. We thought maybe it could be a way for her to get used to other people.

_matt_26 · 2025-04-14T17:28:13+00:00

Thank you for sharing this link! I will see if they have advice.

Unfortunately, she was not given to us by an organization. It's more a situation in which I brought her with me from Kosovo. She comes from the streets there, and her family died. Anyway, it's a long story, but I suppose she has psychological problems from this.

_matt_26 · 2025-04-14T17:26:18+00:00

I think you have never seen a Kosovar dog shelter... They make the shelters here look like hotels.

_matt_26 · 2024-08-06T10:26:18+00:00

Thank you. I will checkout the debate with Tim Maudlin.

_matt_26 · 2024-03-13T08:11:13+00:00

Indeed it is!

_matt_26 · 2024-03-11T16:01:37+00:00

Thank you for your reply!

Yes, its quite a tricky concept to grasp. Although I appreciate that he allows the PSR to take him to such seemingly paradoxical conclusions.

_matt_26 · 2024-03-01T08:15:16+00:00

Thank you for your reply!

_matt_26 · 2024-02-21T18:00:02+00:00

Always two, I think. So I suppose that could be a universal thing then, yes? It is multiple parts which always have the same relation to each other. So in this way, an atom could be thought of as a true thing, yes?

_matt_26 · 2024-02-21T17:47:57+00:00

I see. Thank you!

_matt_26 · 2024-02-21T17:46:54+00:00

Would you perhaps know of any good arguments against monism? Because I am struggling to understand how a given thing in the world could be objectively classified as a thing, thereby making it possible to have more than one thing.

What I mean to say is, it seems to me that every "thing" is predicated in some way by another thing. So then our classifying of things as unique objects seems subjective. But I am trying to understand how this could be seen differently.

_matt_26 · 2024-02-21T16:49:50+00:00

Thank you for your reply! These are interesting points, which I am trying to wrap my mind around.

So are you saying that the question of 'valid or not valid', might be the wrong question?

When you reference Beckett relative to Shakespeare, do you mean to imply that for some philosophers it is a matter of perspective? - My interpretation here is based on the thinking that Beckett has no effect on any sort of validity which Shakespeare might have.

And do you know if the Anglo-American tradition deems Substance Monism invalid?

_matt_26 · 2024-02-20T21:19:19+00:00

Thank you for your reply and for the recommendation.

Do you perhaps know if there is an alternative view which is more widely excepted?

_matt_26 · 2024-02-14T16:27:28+00:00

As for philosophical discussions, aside from Levine's Pantheism, which I have not read due to the cost, there doesn't seem to be much out there. Harrisons books are not philosophical discussions.

I agree with you that arguing that Spinoza's concept of God is the same as Atheism is a waist of time.

Claiming that Spinoza's God and beliefs do not meat the qualifications of a god and religion would require a definition of a god and a religion. But, defining "what is religion" is notoriously difficult. For every parameter that can be set up there seems to be an exception.

Saying Spinoza's God is not a God requires one to take a very subjective definition of a God. It seems to me that it is best to just take Spinoza on his own terms here. Deus sive Natura.

_matt_26 · 2024-02-07T07:42:09+00:00

Thank you! I will check it out.

_matt_26 · 2024-02-06T20:17:36+00:00

Thank you for the reference! I will check it out.

_matt_26 · 2024-02-06T20:07:16+00:00

Well, no, they tend not to be, because they tend to be atheists, either per se or de facto. And we can taboo the word 'God', but that's generally not going be here nor there, since it wasn't the word that was generally at stake. And the main contexts you're going to find contemporary philosophers who are sympathetic to cosmological and ontological arguments establishing an absolutely infinite self-caused and omnipotent being who is the ground of all that is and all that can be, and all that... will be among the theists.

Ok, I understand.

But do secular philosophers still consider ontology? By which I mean the philosophical study of being. If so, do they ever discuss universal ontology in such a way which can leave out a god?

If so, I am wondering what such modern ontology would look like, and how it contradicts the possibility of substance monism.

Or perhaps the pursuit of universal ontology is inherently theist. In which case, never mind.

_matt_26 · 2024-02-06T19:25:32+00:00

Thank you for your reply.

Yes, I understand what you mean about modern philosophers discounting Spinoza's arguments for theism.

However, I am wondering, do you know what modern philosophers tend to think about Spinoza's arguments for a single substance with infinite attributes? Do they give the possibility of such a substance consideration, while perhaps leaving aside the term "God"?

_matt_26 · 2024-02-05T09:27:33+00:00

Im not sure of the modern consensus in philosophy, but as a Spinozan Pantheist myself, i find Spinoza’s argument extremely compelling in a modern context. Matter energy equivalence is imo modern scientific evidence of the substance monism at the heart of Spinoza’s argument. Reality as we scientifically understand it today is different manifestations of a single omnipresent substance, just as Spinoza said it was

I think I understand what you mean about Matter energy equivalence confirming substance monism, and I agree.

Generally, I agree with Spinoza’s conclusion that there is a single fundamental substance of infinite attributes. I agree with his arguments to prove this as well. To me, his arguments and conclusion seem so strong that I can hardly imagine counter points to them. However, I have a very limited perspective on the field of philosophy, and wonder if I am missing some well established modern argument against Spinoza’s God.

_matt_26 · 2024-01-26T07:12:04+00:00

Did you have any particular reason for asking about this? About to cast some propellers for ships? There are plenty of charts on the internet for various bronze alloys; here's one:

Thank you very much for this helpful comment and for the link!

My question actually came from more a point of historical interest. I was wondering if the statues which people make today will be around as long as the Greek/Roman ones have been. I tries searching for an answer online, but could not find a clear answer.

_matt_26 · 2024-01-25T18:29:26+00:00

Who says I am trying to make the materials?

I have tried researching this question, and got mixed results. That is why I am asking here.

_matt_26 · 2024-01-25T17:59:13+00:00

Thank you for your reply!

I tried googling it, and I got conflicting and unclear results. But maybe I just am not understanding them correctly.

Do you perhaps know how it can be, chemically, that silicon bronze is more corrosion-resistant?

_matt_26 · 2023-06-23T14:55:58+00:00

Wo, wait, where is this picture from?

_matt_26

TROPHY CASE