[ExI] atheism

[Samantha Atkins]

On Dec 28, 2009, at 5:03 AM, Stefano Vaj wrote:

> 2009/12/28 Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com>
> There is ample evidence that belief regardless of evidence or argument is harmful.  
> 
> Mmhhh. I would qualify that as an opinion of a moral duty to swear on the truth of  unproved or disproved facts.
> 
> This has something to do with the theist objection that positively believing that Allah does not "exist" would be a "faith" on an equally basis as their own.

That is poor reasoning.  It is not a "positive" believe at all.  It is not even a belief at all.  It is not believing in a positive belief for which there is no evidence.   Now, if the formulation of "Allah" is actually contradictory then we can go to a stronger logical position of pointing out that such is impossible. 

> 
> Now, I may well be persuaded that my cat is sleeping in the other room even though no final evidence of the truth of my opinion thereupon is (still) there, and to form thousand of such provisional or ungrounded - and often wrong - beliefs is probably inevitable. But would I claim that such circumstances are a philosophical necessity or of ethical relevance? Obviously not...

Poor analogy.  We know that cats exist and that states such as sleeping exist.  We know no such things about gods or that putative states.

- samantha

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