So, even basic math isn't an absolute without God? Like the existence of God is the only thing keeping "1+1=My cock" from being a valid equation? Is that what you think?

(June 17, 2023 at 2:48 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: When Nietzsche wrote "God is dead," his point was clearly not simply that Christianity was unsalvagable but that its demise took with it any pretense of transcendant certitudes or absolutes. Was he right? Or are there absolutes that must be true in all possible worlds and true even if there were no physical universe at all?

Explain how that would work without making want to emmolate you.

Have you forgotten that atheism is basically just the one thing? Either a disbelief or lack of belief in a deity.

Apart from this, atheists can be any which way we want. There is no uniform way for us to be, the only thing we all have in common is the above definition.

How does this translate to an atheist being a nihilist?

Also, god is dead doesn't equate to nihilism.

(June 17, 2023 at 7:38 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote:

(June 17, 2023 at 6:13 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Regardless of whether my interpretation of Nietzsche is correct, the question remains whether a commitment to atheism allows one to develop a philosophy that includes some absolutes. If so, what are they?

I don't believe in gods.  I believe in all sorts of other things, including absolutes.  That a moral standard is a standard by which all moral agents can be judged - for one.

I think that is a slippery redefinition of “absolutes”.    Absolutes ought not to merely be a commitment to asserting something to be true under any circumstances.    Absolutes ought to be demonstrably true under any circumstances.

(June 17, 2023 at 7:36 pm)Angrboda Wrote:

(June 17, 2023 at 7:10 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Hmmm...those are not really absolutes. My first candidates would be the Principle of Non-Contradiction and the existence of a Totality. And there are existential stances which cannot be IMHO justfied by either reason or appeal to experience. For example, the belief that reality has a rational order cannot be grounded in any more fundamental belief.

What does it mean to say that reality has a rational order? What do you mean by rational order here?

I am not asking trick questions. What non-theistic absolutes, if any, do you, as an atheist, believe in?

(June 17, 2023 at 9:23 pm)Tomato Wrote: Have you forgotten that atheism is basically just the one thing? Either a disbelief or lack of belief in a deity

Not at all. Given that lack of belief, to what do you turn to ground your beliefs?

(June 17, 2023 at 9:59 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:

(June 17, 2023 at 9:23 pm)Tomato Wrote: Have you forgotten that atheism is basically just the one thing? Either a disbelief or lack of belief in a deity

Not at all. Given that lack of belief, to what do you turn to ground your beliefs?

I need a clarification on this question. It's too vague.

(June 17, 2023 at 9:59 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:

(June 17, 2023 at 9:23 pm)Tomato Wrote: Have you forgotten that atheism is basically just the one thing? Either a disbelief or lack of belief in a deity

Not at all. Given that lack of belief, to what do you turn to ground your beliefs?

Reality?

(June 17, 2023 at 10:04 pm)Tomato Wrote:

(June 17, 2023 at 9:59 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Not at all. Given that lack of belief, to what do you turn to ground your beliefs?

I need a clarification on this question. It's too vague.

What part is unclear?

(June 17, 2023 at 9:51 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:

(June 17, 2023 at 7:36 pm)Angrboda Wrote: What does it mean to say that reality has a rational order?  What do you mean by rational order here?

I am not asking trick questions. What non-theistic absolutes, if any, do you, as an atheist, believe in?

Sure you are.    You would not be here if you are not trying to trick, lie, or otherwise advocating for Jesus.