RE: Absolutes and Atheism
June 18, 2023 at 10:19 am
(This post was last modified: June 18, 2023 at 10:21 am by The Grand Nudger.)
I think that logical mechanics are in more trouble from quantum mechanics than logical absolutes are from philosophical nihilism. But, sure, now we have three. I think there are absolutes in morality, I think there are absolutes in logic. I guess this is unsurprising since I think the two are either the same thing or very closely related. I also feel the sense of the numinous, which doesn't strike me as an absolute, but it was put on the table. Four if we count "reality" as an absolute. Really, any time we talk about facts of any kind we're playing with absolutes. It's the last one, I think, that illustrates my thoughts on the matter of the OPQ the best.
We believe in things like facts, and describe things as fact alike. Even when we are not describing actual facts. Whether there really are facts, whether reality is...or not. The OPQ relies on the unspoken assumption that there is something amiss between atheism and a belief in absolutes - but even if there ever were.....I think we'd find that a great number of atheists..being people...would manage to believe in them anyway. I think we'd find the same in theist demographics. If there were something amiss between theism and absolutes - theists would still believe in them. The challenge is not for people who believe in facts like "earth exists" to explain that belief. It's for the theist who thinks there's something amiss to explain why that statement is only true or false with respect to a gods existence.
We believe in things like facts, and describe things as fact alike. Even when we are not describing actual facts. Whether there really are facts, whether reality is...or not. The OPQ relies on the unspoken assumption that there is something amiss between atheism and a belief in absolutes - but even if there ever were.....I think we'd find that a great number of atheists..being people...would manage to believe in them anyway. I think we'd find the same in theist demographics. If there were something amiss between theism and absolutes - theists would still believe in them. The challenge is not for people who believe in facts like "earth exists" to explain that belief. It's for the theist who thinks there's something amiss to explain why that statement is only true or false with respect to a gods existence.
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