Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: September 16, 2026, 8:08 pm

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
What philosophical evidence is there against believing in non-physical entities?
#87
RE: What philosophical evidence is there against believing in non-physical entities?
(August 31, 2016 at 6:29 pm)Rhythm Wrote: I strongly dislike it when people dismiss the fact that my wife is the coolest female in the world just because they've had no personal experiences of anything of the kind.  I've had personal experiences to that effect daily for more than a decade now, and I value them greatly for what they are and what benefits they bring me.

Unfortunately, neither you nor I have corroborating data...so them's the breaks, and neither of us should take it too rough when someone dismisses either claim on that count.  Wink

I don;t know that not finding evidence of the paranormal has anything to do with atheism, btw. Plenty of atheists do believe in "the paranormal"...and plenty of theists don't.

I cannot of course prove to others what kind of purely subjective experiences I have. There are nevertheless reports of similar experiences that can be produced in various ways including electrical stimulation of parts of the brain. My point here is that said experiences as reported are different than merely being fanciful - they involve altered states often correlated with highly altered emotions, thoughts, and visual and audial perceptions. Depending on where the brain is stimulated or how the altered state is affected different reports of experiences are issued: in one case a life review, in another an out of body experience, etc. It is not necessary to dismiss such accounts to disfavor dualistic supernatural explanations (or non-explanations).

I understand there is no necessary connection between skepticism of the paranormal and atheism and did not claim that. Blackmore did become an atheist, yes, and she also generally became a skeptic of the paranormal. In her case those two perspectives are related, but not in everyone.
Reply



Messages In This Thread
RE: What philosophical evidence is there against believing in non-physical entities? - by Panatheist - August 31, 2016 at 7:37 pm

Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  An Argument Against Determinism Disagreeable 32 5579 March 13, 2026 at 9:11 pm
Last Post: Disagreeable
  Does the fact that many non-human animals have pituitary disprove Cartesian Dualism? FlatAssembler 36 9603 June 23, 2023 at 9:36 pm
Last Post: The Grand Nudger
  Metaethics Part 1: Cognitivism/Non-cognitivism Disagreeable 24 6309 February 11, 2022 at 6:46 pm
Last Post: The Grand Nudger
  Video thread for interesting philosophical discussions on YouTube and elsewhere GrandizerII 2 985 August 26, 2020 at 8:43 am
Last Post: GrandizerII
  In Defense of a Non-Natural Moral Order Acrobat 84 23560 August 30, 2019 at 3:02 pm
Last Post: LastPoet
  [Serious] An Argument Against Hedonistic Moral Realism SenseMaker007 25 7836 June 19, 2019 at 7:21 am
Last Post: The Grand Nudger
Video Neurosurgeon Provides Evidence Against Materialism Guard of Guardians 41 12819 June 17, 2019 at 10:40 pm
Last Post: vulcanlogician
  Argument against Intelligent Design Jrouche 27 8618 June 2, 2019 at 5:04 pm
Last Post: Pat Mustard
  Best arguments for or against God's existence mcc1789 22 7407 May 22, 2019 at 9:16 am
Last Post: The Grand Nudger
  The Argument Against God's Existence From God's Imperfect Choice Edwardo Piet 53 19495 June 4, 2018 at 2:06 pm
Last Post: The Grand Nudger



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)