RE: Is the Atheism/Theism belief/disbelief a false dichotomy? are there other options?
October 3, 2015 at 12:52 am
(This post was last modified: October 3, 2015 at 12:54 am by Psychonaut.)
(October 2, 2015 at 11:58 pm)Pyrrho Wrote:(October 2, 2015 at 11:17 pm)Psychonaut Wrote:
Are you saying that a person can be uncertain consciously, and certain subconsciously?
No. I am not saying that one is certain of anything. I am saying that one is or is not a theist. Just like I either have cancer or I do not have cancer. What anyone knows about either is irrelevant to those facts.
(October 2, 2015 at 11:17 pm)Psychonaut Wrote: Simultaneously?
Also, how do you know that there is no middle ground?
Because I understand the concept of negation, which is the common use of the word "not" in English. To say:
Not X.
means anything other than X. There is no "middle ground," because "Not X" is anything that isn't X.
Thus, I can be absolutely certain of the following sentence:
Either you are a theist or you are not a theist.
There is no middle ground because "not a theist" covers absolutely everything other than being a theist.
Are you then saying that a person believes or disbelieves, regardless of whether they are certain about it or not? As in, it is a matter of fact that a person is either X or not X? Regardless of their experience of such? I understand that you are using the concept of negation, and by definition,
Not X means "everything other than X" but I don't think we have enough certainty to know whether or not "X or not X" statements about most things reflect reality.
I'm not certain, but I think we're taking this from different angles. I think experience is key to belief, as I have never been aware of believing while I have not been experiencing.
Sorry, it may seem ridiculous that I'm essentially regurgitating what you say, but I'm genuinely trying to understand your views on this, I don't want to misread what you've said.
I also understand that it may seem silly, and essentially pointless that I am question every basic and seemingly self evident assumption that one has about reality, but I cannot help but see things this way.
If I am mistaken, please let me know.
Plato had defined Man as an animal, biped and featherless, and was applauded. Diogenes plucked a fowl and brought it into the lecture room with the words,
"Behold Plato's man!"