RE: Atheism is just as irrational as Theism.
October 11, 2011 at 11:46 am
(This post was last modified: October 11, 2011 at 11:58 am by Captain Scarlet.)
The non cognitivism or meaninglessness of god talk is an argument FOR atheism, it doesn't demonstrate the irrationality of atheism. Atheism is a rejection of theism, not lack of belief in a god. Non cognitivist arguments proceed something like:
An existant has primary, secondary and relational attributes
Secondary and relational attributes necessarily depend on primary ones
The god concept has identified secondary attributes (eg omni qualities)
The god concept has no positively identified primary attribute
Talk of the god concepts secondary attributes is meaningless
Theism is thus rejected as meaningless
The theist will seek to defend that the concept of their god does have identified primary attributes. But how do they know? Why do they have the right to posit such features on an unknowable sovereign force/being? At what point do these said attributes just amount to bare assertions and/or stolen concepts from the natural world? Why do some people of the same faith hold different views?
An existant has primary, secondary and relational attributes
Secondary and relational attributes necessarily depend on primary ones
The god concept has identified secondary attributes (eg omni qualities)
The god concept has no positively identified primary attribute
Talk of the god concepts secondary attributes is meaningless
Theism is thus rejected as meaningless
The theist will seek to defend that the concept of their god does have identified primary attributes. But how do they know? Why do they have the right to posit such features on an unknowable sovereign force/being? At what point do these said attributes just amount to bare assertions and/or stolen concepts from the natural world? Why do some people of the same faith hold different views?
"I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence"...Doug McLeod.