Philosophical Spark

A Resource Page for Amateur Philosophers

Contents of This Page:

Introduction

Religious Belief Systems

Science Based Belief Systems

Internet Philosophical Sites

Index to Spark Pages

I started this with the best of intentions. The aim was to seek out good links to philosophical discourse on the net and to list them with a short comment on each. Unfortunately I got distracted by religion.

The sheer number of sites providing a religious or mystical view of the world is amazing. And I must admit to a kind of mesmerised curiosity about it all; I wasted a good few late nights surfing religious sites, when I could have been seeking out more useful resources. It is sometimes remarked that persons from a Roman Catholic background, like myself, who have managed to shake off the shackles of religion, nevertheless retain a philosophical outlook. Whether this is true or not, I am a good example of the syndrome. And I do like to keep an eye on what the various religions are currently up to.

Still, I expect self-discipline to return soon, and I will devote more time to a search for genuine, scientific philosophy. If you can assist in this project please email me with the URLs of relevant material, along with a short informative comment on each one. In return (should you so so desire) I will acknowledge you by name as the source of the link, and provide an email link to you, or even a hyperlink if you have a relevant page of your own.

Finally, the introductory section of the Spark Homepage is also relevant to an understanding of the objectives underlying the content and design of these pages.

Page Contents Index to Spark Pages

• The Apocalyptic Files This is a piece of nonsense about the biblical Book of Revelations, around which a dense theory has been built. It is very heavy on graphics, and slow to load down.
• Anglicans Online All about Anglicanism.
• Bible Gateway Bible as database, search facility. Offers a choice of several languages.
• The Book of Mormon On-line text.
• Buddism: Journal of Buddist Ethics Archive of articles from this journal plus good links to other Buddist sites.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints An unofficial site.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The official site which contains nothing (as of 04-03-1996) except a bulky (and kitschy) graphic.
• The Essence of Reality Hmmn! Well, yes, if reality is philosophical idealism. A fresh view of life, trancending conceptual limitations of philosophy, science, and religion, and expanding on holistic and new age thought; revealing the workings of the mind, exposing the fallacies and illusions created by archaic beliefs, and clarifying the mystic, the occult, the psychic, and the unknown. By Thomas Daniel Nehrer. Don't say you were'nt told. (Heavy on graphics).
• Fatima Homepage All about the visions at Fatima in 1917. Links to other similar sites for the credulous, including Medjugorge, Turin Shroud, etc.
• Dalai Lama Home Page Also some information on Tibet.
• Hell - The Online Guide Satanism. Links to other Satinist sites. Perhaps not a site for the religiously timid.
• Islamic Texts and Resources Metapage This site is packed with material on Islam, and in addition, is very well presented.
• Islamic Resources Links to Islamic resources, events etc.
• Islam's Homepage Lots of information and links. Humanists will find all this very intriguing, perhaps dismissing it with the thought that people are entitled to believe what they want. Then you come across the article giving an Islamic view on 'Equality of Women. Take a look at this quite un-selfconscious and un-selfcritical example of clerical, patriarchal dogma.
• Judaism and Jewish Resources A site packed with information on judaism and the state of Israel. A must for those interested in judaism.
• Network for Jewish Youth Resources, activities, links etc.
• One World Net From Kiel in Germany. Alternative information and links for Buddists, political activists etc. Hmmn! In English and German.
• The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) This is a very informative site, with many links to resources for this interesting and tolerant religion.
  
• Seventh Day Adventists Looks like an interesting site.
• The Church of Scientology vs The Net The Church of Scientology has unwisely declared war against the Usenet and Internet communities. Since December of 1994, this Church and its followers have committed numerous acts that are hostile to the spirit of free speech on the Net. This web page is intended to document these activities.
• Scientology Fact File More anti-scientology material.
• The Shroud of Turin Maintained by Barrie M. Schwortz, a member of the team that completed the first extensive scientific examination of the Shroud in 1978. There are pictures and a history of the shroud, plus a section devoted to the latest shroud news. There are also links to related sites.
• The Unification Movement Resources for followers of Rev. Sun Myung Moon (Moonies).

Page Contents

Index to Spark Pages

• Atheism Alt.Atheism Web.
  
• The Left Hemisphere This site has links to skeptical resources and magazines (including The Skeptical Inquirer, The Skeptic (U.K.), The Skeptical Review, and Skeptic Magazine), as well as skeptical organisations. It has excellent links to religious sites and to critiques of religion. It also has links dealing with church-state issues, atheism and agnosticism, cults and sects, cyber religions, the bible, christianity, judaism, islam, church of scientology, and other miscellaneous matters.
• The Secular Web This site, hosted by the Internet Infidels, is a must for humanist resources. It has links to humanist literature archives, debates, magazines and organisations.
• The Skeptical Inquirer Homepage of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. Magazine, plus archive of selected articles from back issues.
• Skepticism Skeptics Society: Investigates the psuedosciences, paranormal etc. Promotes scientific and critical thinking.

Page Contents

Index to Spark Pages

• American Philosophical Association A gopher site with good resources and links.
  
• Internet Services for Philosophers This appears to be an excellent place to learn how to search the internet for philosophy resources and contains extensive links. I have not checked it out yet, but it shows all the signs of an excellent site.
  
• The Metaphysics Research Lab Hosted by The Centre for Language Studies at Stanford University. This lab studies 'abstract objects: mathematical objects, mathematical relations, concepts and ideas, possibilities, fictions, properties, and states of affairs, to name just a few. Metaphysics (and, in particular, the discipline known as Formal Ontology) is the search for a unified theory of the logical space these abstract objects define'.
• Objectivism in Brief This is the philosophy of one Ayn Rand. It believes that 'reason is man's only means of knowledge', that 'rational self-interest is the objective ethical code', and that 'laissez-faire capitalism is the objective social system'. The site is generally patchy: some of its links are inoperative, and the philosophy is superficial.
• Philosophy on the Web From the same site as 'Internet Services for Philosophers', this should keep amateur (and professional) philosophers from pontificating to their friends for weeks on end. On the other hand they will emerge from the site with much more to say than when they went in. Don't miss it.
• Psyche Journal Interdisciplinary journal of consciousness research.
• UCD Philosophy Department Good links.
• UCD Guide to Political Theory and Political Philosophy Links, texts etc.
• University of Massachussetts Liberal Arts College Philosophy Home Page

Page Contents

Index to Spark Pages

Spark Home Page:

/ Introduction to Spark / What's on Spark /

Political Theory:

/ Feminism / Marxism / Left of Centre Politics / Right of Centre Politics /
/ Extreme Right Wing Politics / Political Theory /

Political Organisation:

/ Political Parties / Political Issue Organisations / Governance /

Political Issues:

/ Issues by Topic / Issues by Country /

Labour:

/ Introduction / International Labour / Irish Labour /

Science:

/ Natural Science / Social Science /

Philosophy: This page!

/ Religious Belief Systems / Science Based Belief Systems /
/ Internet Philosophical Sites /

Reference:

/ Political Search / Books and Booksellers / Internet Search Tools /
/ Publishing Media / Electronic Media Search / Reference /

Spark's World View

Spark's Author

Page Contents

Spark is maintained by: Tony Dermody, 8 Laracor Gardens, The Donahies, Dublin 13, Ireland. Telephone: + 353 1 847 6136.
Email: tdermody@iol.ie

URL: http://www.iol.ie/~tdermody/phil001.html
Last updated: 14th February 1996.

You are visitor number to this page, since 14th February 1996.

Pertinent criticism, comments, and suggestions are very welcome. Suggestions for links to new sites and relevant articles will be especially useful, as will notification regarding links from these pages which are inoperative, or have changed. Material made available in plain text or HTML, on disk or across the net, which is in accord with the world view espoused by Spark, will be considered for publication on this site. You should have a look at the summary of Spark's philosophy and aims, before sending anything, as publication will be solely at the discretion of Spark, and material submitted will not be returned. Please feel free to use email to seek further information or to comment constructively.