(October 30, 2010 at 3:23 pm)Existentialist Wrote: "Atheism means whatever the majority wants it to mean," is problematic. I thought we were moving to the convention that meanings are found in dictionaries - not a stance I would take but hey, if that's the rule, who am I to break it?
On reflection, it probably is a problematic way of defining something. Generally, though, dictionaries reflect the current usage of a word.
Quote:My dictionaries are giving the most popular meaning as "denial of the existence of God" or words to that effect. Disbelief is secondary. That is the way the word is being used in the world today according to the dictionary compilers. Do we need a worldwide vote on what atheism means? Is that practical?
No, but in my experience, the usage by the atheist community (if such a thing exists) is to mean merely 'a lack of belief'. Certainly, the dictionary backs you up, but I think if you subscribe to a descriptivist, rather than a prescriptivist, view of language, you have to admit that 'a lack of belief' is the more common definition.
'We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.' H.L. Mencken
'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.
'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain
'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
'False religion' is the ultimate tautology.
'It is just like man's vanity and impertinence to call an animal dumb because it is dumb to his dull perceptions.' Mark Twain
'I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.' Abraham Lincoln
