There was a basketball game going on when visiting philosopher Hud Hudson spoke Thursday night, but no one in his audience cared that they got inductive arguments instead of jump shots and possible world systems instead of free throws. In Smith Hall, the matchup was Atheists vs. Believers. It was the second in the Philosophy Today lecture series, which brings prominent minds from around the country to UA to put a philosophical spin on hot-button issues like torture, immigration and faith. The question of the night: Can God exist in a world of evil? Hudson’s talk, “The Rabbit in the Garden: A Skeptical Theists Tale,” was a lecture in metaphysics, but there was nary a crystal ball, innocence stick or Tarot Card in sight. Rather, Hudson’s brand of metaphysics dealt with things like free will, identity and time – things most of us take for granted but philosophers have been untangling for millennia. But while the series brings in some of the finest philosophers in the world, they come to make philosophy accessible to the common folk, said Scott Hestevold, who helped start the series when he became the chair of the philosophy department in 2007. “It was designed to give non-philosophers a good look at what it is contemporary philosophers are doing,” Hestevold explained. In fact, most of Hudson’s language was rather down-to-earth, equating arguments against the existence of God to a search for a rabbit in his garden. Simply put, given the limits of our measly three-dimensional understanding, arguing against God because of the suffering we see may be as futile as arguing that a rabbit isn’t in your garden because you can’t find it behind one or two shrubs. “It’s the kind of argument that would take place at Thanksgiving dinner,” Hudson said. Hudson wanted his talk to be something like do-it-yourself philosophy, designed to show anyone how to use philosophical tools to counter one of the most common arguments against God in everyday life. “It was nice to hear an argument based on the realm of reason rather than sheer faith,” said Jacob Crawford, majoring in English and theatre. “Arguing from science alone is no better than saying you know something because the Bible told me so.” But the Philosophy Today visitors also bring plenty of fodder for those already deep in the trenches of reason. Last week, Hudson led Hestevold’s advanced Philosophy of Religion course and spoke in a colloquium for faculty and majors, giving philosophy nerds a chance to tackle things like four-dimensional hyperspace and plentitudinous multiverses. “They kept me busy,” Hudson said, “But it was a good busy.” Philosophy major Hannah Hicks was star-struck. “He is a fine-looking philosopher,” she said. “He has a beautiful speaking voice. I thought he was going to be very intimidating, but he has the sort of personality that makes you feel at ease and confident.” But of course, reason in all things. “Ultimately, I know I could just be seeing him as a 3D cross-section of a multi-dimensional object,” Hicks said. Next semester, Philosophy Today will bring two more philosophy big-shots, Alvin Goldman from Rutgers University and Rebecca Copenhagen from Lewis and Clark to throw philosophy into more of society’s most important debates.