(July 6, 2012 at 4:32 pm)CliveStaples Wrote: You just used the word "cornerstone" a bunch, with a bunch of vaguely-referenced implicit relationships between beliefs. It's easier if you just give the explicit relationship.
Criticism accepted.
(July 6, 2012 at 4:32 pm)CliveStaples Wrote: A-unicornism is a trivial motivation because nobody believes in unicorns. Atheism is not a trivial motivation, because many people aren't atheists.
Re-read that for me. Then tell me if it makes sense.
(July 6, 2012 at 4:32 pm)CliveStaples Wrote: Sure! It would actually be one of the most polite responses I've gotten on this forum.
You get what you give.
(July 6, 2012 at 4:32 pm)CliveStaples Wrote: It seems that you're mistaken about something. What set, exactly, do you think I've defined "atheism" to be? Because I haven't actually defined it as a set of propositions; it's a class of belief systems (for like the seventh time).
A-unicornism would be, what, the collection of all belief systems that don't implement unicornism? That's not a very interesting partition of belief systems. But there's lots of uninteresting partitions of belief systems. Wake-up-at-6:00-am-and-do-12-pushups-while-singing-Hello-Dolly-ism and a-Wake-up-at-6:00-am-and-do-12-pushups-while-singing-Hello-Dolly-ism are another uninteresting partition.
The reason you can't use atheism as a class of belief systems remains that it is useless as a descriptor. Any set of beliefs that don't include theism? That is too broad to be useful. You can't use atheism as the umbrella simply because you wouldn't be including *just* nihilism, secular humanism, etc, but also evey single redundant belief it also describes. Your "wake-up-at-6:00-am-and-do-12-pushups-while-singing analogy perfectly demonstrates the infinite possibilities that could fall into an unbrella that is only meant to describe a lack of a position. It isn't meant ot describe everything but theism, that isn't what atheism is.
How do you not understand? I can understand you perfectly, Why can't you take in what my message is? Am I bad at wording it?
Are you simply too theistic
?Oh well.
My conclusion is that there is no reason to believe any of the dogmas of traditional theology and, further, that there is no reason to wish that they were true.
Man, in so far as he is not subject to natural forces, is free to work out his own destiny. The responsibility is his, and so is the opportunity.
-Bertrand Russell
Man, in so far as he is not subject to natural forces, is free to work out his own destiny. The responsibility is his, and so is the opportunity.
-Bertrand Russell
