Peter van Inwagen famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

It looks to me as if Darwinians are like someone who, having observed that tugboats sometimes maneuver ocean liners in tight places by directing high-pressure streams of water at them, concludes that he has discovered the method by which the liners cross the Atlantic.
-- Peter van Inwagen

#Ocean #Water #Looks
Determinism is the thesis that is true at every moment that the way things then are determines a unique future, that only one of the alternative futures that may exist relative to a given moment is a physically possible continuation of the state of things at the moment. Or, if you like, we may say that determinism is the thesis that only one continuation of the state of things at a given moment is consistent with the laws of nature.
-- Peter van Inwagen

#Unique #Law #Alternatives
You certainly wouldnâ€™t want to invest much time in an argument with someone who would believe it in the first place.
-- Peter van Inwagen

#Believe #Want #Firsts
It used to be widely held that evil was incompatible with the existence of God: that no possible world contained both God and evil. So far as I am able tell, this thesis is no longer defended
-- Peter van Inwagen

#Evil #World #Able
I donâ€™t know about â€˜common sense opinionâ€™ by the way. It seems to me that the office of common sense is to keep us from playing cards for high stakes with people we meet on trains, and not to endorse metaphysical opinions.
-- Peter van Inwagen

#Common Sense #Office #People
You certainly wouldn’t want to invest much time in an argument with someone who would believe it in the first place.
-- Peter van Inwagen

#Believe #Want #Firsts
I don’t know about ‘common sense opinion’ by the way. It seems to me that the office of common sense is to keep us from playing cards for high stakes with people we meet on trains, and not to endorse metaphysical opinions.
-- Peter van Inwagen

#People #Common Sense #Office

The open ocean often takes you past your physical limits and when it does, sailing becomes a mental game.
This is my life, I thought...I have excised the cancer from my past, cut it out; I have crossed the high plains, descended into the desert, traversed oceans, and planted my feet in new soil; I have been the apprentice, paid my dues, and have just become master of my ship. But when I look down, why do I see the ancient, tarred, mud-stained slippers that I buried at the start of the journey still stuck to my feet?
My skin prickled and I looked back at the ocean. None of us ask for the things we inherit; they are thrust upon us, willy-nilly. Like The Marine, I suddenly understood. Mom and I weren't trespassing. This house was ours. This view was ours. And that seemed as absurd and unreal as the stories Sailor Hat had spun for me on the ferry.
Animals in general have always been my passion, project, crusade - whatever you want to call it! The ocean is such a huge, beautiful thing that I feel like we all take for granted.
The Holy Spirit is just as truly in us when He makes no sign as when the fountains of joy are overflowing, or the waters of peace are softly refreshing our weary and troubled heart.
When you take a shower in space, you have to press the water onto your body to clean yourself, and then you gotta vacuum it off.
Are you really angry, or simply aware of anger in the body and mind? Don't speculate, simply look at what is there.
Manchester has everything but good looks..., the only place in England which escapes our characteristic vice of snobbery.
Quiet descended, a silence so consuming that even the drafty corridors ceased whistling. Bog wasn't certain where to look, so he solved the problem by plucking out his eyes and sticking them in a drawer.
Look for the enemies of Medicare, of higher minimum wages, of Social Security, of federal aid to education and there you will find the enemy of the Negro, the coalition of Dixiecrats and reactionary Republicans that seek to dominate the Congress.

Peter van Inwagen famous quotes

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