Schellenberg's Noseeum Assumption about Nonresistant Nonbelief

Paul A. Macdonald Jr.

doi:10.24204/ejpr.2021.3085

Schellenberg's Noseeum Assumption about Nonresistant Nonbelief

European Journal for Philosophy of Religion ◽

10.24204/ejpr.2021.3085 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Paul A. Macdonald Jr.

Keyword(s):

Skeptical Theism ◽

Good Argument ◽

Strategy I

In this article, I outline a strategy for challenging J.L. Schellenberg’s hiddenness argument, and specifically the premise within the argument that asserts the existence of what Schellenberg calls nonresistant nonbelief. Drawing on some of the philosophical resources of skeptical theism, I show how this premise is based on a particular “noseeum assumption”—what I call Schellenberg’s Noseeum Assumption—that underwrites a particular “noseeum argument.” This assumption is that, regarding putative nonresistant nonbelievers, more likely than not we’d detect these nonbelievers’ resistance toward God if there were any. I give reasons for thinking that it is not more reasonable to affirm than to refrain from affirming Schellenberg’s Noseeum Assumption, and so reason to think that the hiddenness argument is not a good argument for atheism. I also defend the strategy I outline against several objections.

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Risk, Desire and Adaptation: The Paradox of Queer Solidarity and the Political Possibility of Death Under Neoliberalism and Homonationalism

Somatechnics ◽

10.3366/soma.2017.0217 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 185-200

Author(s):

Natalie Kouri-Towe

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Social Movement ◽

Political Activism ◽

State Violence ◽

The Political ◽

Sexual Rights ◽

Political Strategy ◽

Rights Discourse ◽

The Relationship ◽

Strategy I

In 2015, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid Toronto (QuAIA Toronto) announced that it was retiring. This article examines the challenges of queer solidarity through a reflection on the dynamics between desire, attachment and adaptation in political activism. Tracing the origins and sites of contestation over QuAIA Toronto's participation in the Toronto Pride parade, I ask: what does it mean for a group to fashion its own end? Throughout, I interrogate how gestures of solidarity risk reinforcing the very systems that activists desire to resist. I begin by situating contemporary queer activism in the ideological and temporal frameworks of neoliberalism and homonationalism. Next, I turn to the attempts to ban QuAIA Toronto and the term ‘Israeli apartheid’ from the Pride parade to examine the relationship between nationalism and sexual citizenship. Lastly, I examine how the terms of sexual rights discourse require visible sexual subjects to make individual rights claims, and weighing this risk against political strategy, I highlight how queer solidarities are caught in a paradox symptomatic of our times: neoliberalism has commodified human rights discourses and instrumentalised sexualities to serve the interests of hegemonic power and obfuscate state violence. Thinking through the strategies that worked and failed in QuAIA Toronto's seven years of organising, I frame the paper though a proposal to consider political death as a productive possibility for social movement survival in the 21stcentury.

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It Keeps Me Seeking

10.1093/oso/9780198808282.001.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Briggs ◽

Hans Halvorson ◽

Andrew Steane

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Biology ◽

Quantum Physics ◽

Natural World ◽

Theological Reflection ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Good Argument ◽

The Difference ◽

Argument From Design ◽

Relationship Of

Two scientists and a philosopher aim to show how science both enriches and is enriched by Christian faith. The text is written around four themes: 1. God is a being to be known, not a hypothesis to be tested; 2. We set a high bar on what constitutes good argument; 3. Uncertainty is OK; 4. We are allowed to open up the window that the natural world offers us. This is not a work of apologetics. Rather, the text takes an overview of various themes and gives reactions and responses, intended to place science correctly as a valued component of the life of faith. The difference between philosophical analysis and theological reflection is expounded. Questions of human identity are addressed from philosophy, computer science, quantum physics, evolutionary biology and theological reflection. Contemporary physics reveals the subtle and open nature of physical existence, and offers lessons in how to learn and how to live with incomplete knowledge. The nature and role of miracles is considered. The ‘argument from design’ is critiqued, especially arguments from fine-tuning. Logical derivation from impersonal facts is not an appropriate route to a relationship of mutual trust. Mainstream evolutionary biology is assessed to be a valuable component of our understanding, but no exploratory process can itself fully account for the nature of what is discovered. To engage deeply in science is to seek truth and to seek a better future; it is also an activity of appreciation, as one may appreciate a work of art.

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Anti-theodicy

10.1093/oso/9780198821625.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

N. N. Trakakis

Keyword(s):

Alternative Model ◽

Problem Of Evil ◽

Skeptical Theism ◽

Alternative Models ◽

Absolute Idealism ◽

The Problem Of Evil ◽

The Absolute ◽

Methodological Considerations

First, the nature of ‘anti-theodicy’ is outlined, and some indication is provided as to how this position differs from both theodicy and skeptical theism, and how the anti-theodicy view can be supported on the basis of moral and methodological considerations. Secondly, a possible metaphysical basis for anti-theodicy is sought, and this is achieved by abandoning anthropomorphic conceptions of God in favour of alternative models of divinity that might make possible new and more fruitful perspectives on the problem of evil. The alternative model advanced here for special attention is the Absolute Idealism of F. H. Bradley. The chapter concludes by showing how the problem of evil can be answered from a Bradleian perspective.

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Ethylene and Phloem Signals Are Involved in the Regulation of Responses to Fe and P Deficiencies in Roots of Strategy I Plants

Frontiers in Plant Science ◽

10.3389/fpls.2019.01237 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Carlos Lucena ◽

Rafael Porras ◽

María J. García ◽

Esteban Alcántara ◽

Rafael Pérez-Vicente ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Strategy I

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Estimating Agricultural Soil Moisture Content through UAV-Based Hyperspectral Images in the Arid Region

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13081562 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 1562

Author(s):

Xiangyu Ge ◽

Jianli Ding ◽

Xiuliang Jin ◽

Jingzhe Wang ◽

Xiangyue Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Data Mining ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Moisture Content ◽

Hyperspectral Imaging ◽

Fractional Order ◽

Arid Regions ◽

Soil Moisture Content ◽

Order Derivative ◽

Imaging Data ◽

Strategy I

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based hyperspectral remote sensing is an important monitoring technology for the soil moisture content (SMC) of agroecological systems in arid regions. This technology develops precision farming and agricultural informatization. However, hyperspectral data are generally used in data mining. In this study, UAV-based hyperspectral imaging data with a resolution o 4 cm and totaling 70 soil samples (0–10 cm) were collected from farmland (2.5 × 104 m2) near Fukang City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Four estimation strategies were tested: the original image (strategy I), first- and second-order derivative methods (strategy II), the fractional-order derivative (FOD) technique (strategy III), and the optimal fractional order combined with the optimal multiband indices (strategy IV). These strategies were based on the eXtreme Gradient Boost (XGBoost) algorithm, with the aim of building the best estimation model for agricultural SMC in arid regions. The results demonstrated that FOD technology could effectively mine information (with an absolute maximum correlation coefficient of 0.768). By comparison, strategy IV yielded the best estimates out of the methods tested (R2val = 0.921, RMSEP = 1.943, and RPD = 2.736) for the SMC. The model derived from the order of 0.4 within strategy IV worked relatively well among the different derivative methods (strategy I, II, and III). In conclusion, the combination of FOD technology and the optimal multiband indices generated a highly accurate model within the XGBoost algorithm for SMC estimation. This research provided a promising data mining approach for UAV-based hyperspectral imaging data.

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