(November 22, 2013 at 2:31 am)Vincenzo "Vinny" G. Wrote: My beef with that is precisely that they are idiots. They are unaware of what and why atheism is defined the way it is.It seems that it's you who are unaware of what & why atheism is defined the way it is. An argument from authority (e.g. Flew) will not change the etymology of the word. The consensus of the intelligentsia (your requirement!) is that the strictest, most accurate definition of 'a-thesim' is 'not theism'. Consequently an 'atheist' is 'not a theist'. A variety of dictionaries list a number of other definitions which have arisen through misuse & common use but that doesn't mean you get to pick one that you agree with and discount the rest especially when your own criteria mean that you should be agreeing with this definition.
Quote:If you seriously, really think your definition is not just convenient and nice and keeps people happy and trendy, but the actual, real, objective, correct definition, then you know the discussion is at least starting on the right foundation. Trouble is, who here can honestly say that?I can.
Sum ergo sum
