Welcome to a special Episode 160 – a conversation / debate between Jack Symes and Philip Goff.

Philip Goff and Jack Symes have known each other since 2011, when Philip taught Jack's very first philosophy lecture. In the years since, they've both arrived at views that sit awkwardly between God and atheism – but in very different ways.

Philip defends a God of limited powers and a form of Christianity rooted in Eastern Orthodox theology. Jack argues that God is just the world. In this conversation, they put their views head to head.

They discuss the ontological argument (which Philip loves and Jack accepts begrudgingly), the problem of evil, and Philip's recent mystical experience. They also explore negative religious experiences, panpsychism, whether the self is an illusion, and why neither of them are traditional theists.

This is a conversation between two friends who disagree about almost everything – and enjoy every minute of it.

Links

Philip Goff:

Why? The Purpose of the Universe (book)

Galileo's Error: A New Science of Consciousness (book)