RE: Agnosticism IS the most dishonest position
February 16, 2020 at 9:46 pm
(This post was last modified: February 16, 2020 at 9:46 pm by Agnostico.)
(February 15, 2020 at 3:27 pm)Simon Moon Wrote:(February 14, 2020 at 8:14 pm)Agnostico Wrote: A person says he thinks there is a 50% chance of a god. There is nothing dishonest about that.
1. How did you come up with the odds being 50%? Just because a god either exists, for doesn't exist, doesn't mean that it is a 50/50 proposition.
2. That's not agnosticism. Agnosticism is having the position that the existence of gods is unknown (currently), and possibly unknowable.
1. It's just an example. A person may have a 95% probability that god exists. Is he an atheist?
2. Agnosticism is having the position that the existence of gods is unknown (currently). That's exactly my view. Speculating on probabilities is just that, speculating.
Quote: Wrote:The person is not a theist or an atheist, he's agnostic. The assertion that one must choose between two options is a black and white fallacy
Simon Moon Wrote:Agnosticism is not some sort of middle ground between belief and disbelief. Gnosticism/agnosticism concerns what one claims to know, theism/atheism concerns what one believes/disbelieves.
It is not possible to not be a theist or not atheist. Belief is the psychological state in which one accepts a premise or proposition as being true, or likely true. Belief is binary mental state. If one believes a god exists, they are a theist. If one is not convinced that a god exists, they are an atheist.
With regards to the existence of gods, either one accepts the proposition that at least one god exists, which would make one a theist (the belief in a god). Or they do not accept that proposition as being true, which would make them an atheist (without belief in a god). If one says they are not convinced that a god exists, they are an atheist; the "A" prefix means "without" , "theism' means "belief in gods". Atheism means without belief in gods.
There is no requirement with theism or atheism, that one be absolutely certain that a god exists, or does not exist.
Agnostic-atheist is a valid position, as is agnostic-theism.
There is no black and white fallacy.
I said the assertion that one must choose between two options is a black and white fallacy. The assertion is being made by the op.
So despite your contention to my statement, we are actually in agreement. There is no black and white fallacy
