Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Critics of deism

Deism ( DEE-iz-əm  or DAY-iz-əm; derived from the Latin term deus, meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation of the natural world are exclusively logical, reliable, and sufficient to determine the existence of a Supreme Being as the creator of the universe. More simply stated, Deism is the belief in the existence of God (often, but not necessarily, a God who does not intervene in the universe after creating it), solely based on rational thought without any reliance on revealed religions or religious authority.

3 episodes

Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:

CulturePhilosophyOntologistsSocial philosophersPhilosophers of literaturePhilosophers of mindPhilosophers of historyPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of religionPhilosophers of scienceEpistemologistsPhilosophers of education18th-century philosophersPhilosophers of economicsAristotelian philosophersLogiciansNatural law ethicistsPhilosophers of logicPhilosophers of psychologyIslamic philosophersPhilosophers of artPhilosophers of languagePolitical philosophersClassical liberalismVirtue ethicists18th-century English male writersAlumni of Trinity College Dublin18th-century English writersBritish political philosophersCritics of atheismEnglish libertariansHistorians of the French RevolutionIrish Anglicans18th-century Anglo-Irish people, 18th-century Irish writers, 18th-century Irish male writersAlchemists of the medieval Islamic worldAnglican philosophersConservatismCritics of ChristianityEnglish people of Irish descentMembers of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies, British MPs 1780–1784Muslim critics of atheism, AsharisStreathamitesWriters from Dublin (city)12th-century Muslim theologians18th-century English philosophers18th-century Irish philosophersArabic-language commentators on AristotleAstronomers of the medieval Islamic worldAstronomical instrument makersBritish MPs 1774–1780British MPs 1790–1796, British MPs 1784–1790Explorers of AsiaIrish Freemasons, Irish people of English descent, Irish libertariansMedieval Iranian pharmacologists, Transoxanian Islamic scholarsPeople from Córdoba, SpainPhilosophers from al-AndalusPsychology in the medieval Islamic worldRectors of the University of Glasgow
  1. Al-Biruni

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Central Asian polymath al-Biruni and his 11th-century book India, one of the first scholarly works about the country.

    10 June 2010

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    Featuring: James Montgomery, Hugh Kennedy, Amira Bennison

     
  2. Averroes

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the philosopher Averroes who worked to reconcile the theology of Islam with the rationality of Aristotle, achieving both fame and infamy.

    5 October 2006

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    Featuring: Amira Bennison, Peter Adamson, Anthony Kenny

     
  3. Edmund Burke

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the work of the philosopher, politician and writer Edmund Burke, whose views on revolution in America and France were hugely influential.

    3 June 2010

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    Featuring: Karen O'Brien, Richard Bourke, John Keane