# Richard Carrier's Defense of Naturalism



## CatechumenPatrick (Aug 19, 2011)

Hey everyone,

I recently set out to write a review of Richard Carrier's 2005 book _Sense and Goodness without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism._ Carrier is popular in some online circles particularly for his criticisms of the reliability and accuracy of the NT, and for his defense of the mythicist view, i.e., the the view that Jesus of Nazareth never existed as a historical person, even that the NT texts suggest as much, but he considers himself a philosopher as much as a historian. 

One does not have to be a Van Tillian to think that such historical claims ultimately need a defensible underlying philosophical system to provide grounding. For various reasons I could only manage a very rough and incomplete draft reviewing the first section, his understanding of the nature of meaning (which also includes purported refutations of skepticism and the work of Plantinga). One reason is simply that it was exhausting trying to piece together a charitable interpretation of his positions, particularly when he does not interact with actual literature in philosophy. 

I am providing a link to the draft below, in the hopes that someone might find it useful. I would appreciate any comments (or complaints). I am also including my comments for Carrier, as they provide background as well as my overall assessment of the work (which is, you might expect, not peachy). As I said, it is very rough, but I am hoping someone might benefit, even by doing a better job than I have done as I am sure many of you can! 

https://sites.google.com/site/paphi...dnesswithoutGod-Incomplete.doc?attredirects=0


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