* Rebecca recently featured the ontological argument, the cosmological argument, the teleological argument, and the moral argument for God's existence in her Theological Terms series.
* The perfect summation of vast swathes of contemporary analytic philosophy. Fortunately it isn't always bad; just enough to be occasionally exasperating. Ht: John Wilkins, who notes that this is probably the way most undergraduates see philosophy (I say good for them, it shows they were paying attention for at least some parts of the lectures!); but it's also secretly the way most professional philosophers see the philosophical work of colleagues with whom they radically disagree!
* A. C. Grayling has a nice little note on the importance of beauty in Prospect. The attribution of subjectivism to Thomas Aquinas is not, I think, defensible, since Thomas does not regard beauty as a form of pleasure, although he links the two (the beautiful is that which pleases on being seen). But abstracting from that, the general line of reasoning in the column is a good one.
* I just recently heard Tracy Chapman's song, All that You Have Is Your Soul. Wow, what a great song:
So don't be tempted by the shiny apple
Don't you eat of a bitter fruit
Hunger only for a taste of justice
Hunger only for a world of truth
'Cause all that you have is your soul
A good song for Lent.
* Chris at "Mixing Memory" has a post on cognitive science research into links between loneliness (or lack of it) and religion.
* Fr. Chris Tessone discusses the art of the collect at "Even the Devils Believe".
