Is this it? As I showed in my review of their book The Grand Design http://nrd.nationalreview.com/?q=MjAxMDExMjk= for National Review, Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow are no more philosophically competent than Siegel is. Indeed, one of their errors is the same as Siegel’s: They tell us that “Because there is a law like gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.” Ignore for the moment the incoherence of the notion of self-causation (which we explored recently here http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2010/12/dreaded-causa-sui.html and here http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2010/12/causal-loops-infinite-regresses-and.html). Put to one side the question of whether the physics of their account is correct. Forget about where the laws of physics themselves are supposed to have come from. Just savor the manifest contradiction: The universe comes from nothing, because a law like gravity is responsible for the universe. If this is it, it's wrong because...?
---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <authfriend@...> wrote : I can't find the Hawking post on Feser's blog. Do you perhaps have a link? He did publish a review of Hawking's book on National Review Online; could that be where you saw it? It was apparently for subscribers only. Are you a subscriber to NRO? It's on Mr Ed's blog somewhere, not as an essay in itself but mentioned on one his many pages... Hawking's contention that philosophy is dead is a rather obvious nonstarter. It's been soundly refuted by a host of philosophers (including Feser) and even some scientists. Mr Ed didn't like it? Stone me! It must be great having all these amazing minds doing your thinking for you. I don't take your mangling of Feser's name seriously. I just think it's juvenile. Heh, heh.. BTW, did you notice that Curtis doesn't go along with your metaphysical scientistic assertion that only what is measurable is real? Good for him. And it's supposed to affect me how? Here's a question for you: Try assuming that this classical god theory is wrong and whatever it is that it does - or did - stops, or never started. In what way is the universe different? When I say "the universe" I mean everything in it, us, our lives, pasts, futures. Everything. What do we lose without this fabulous thing you guys are so into?
