I'd like to know what you think of Austin's rebuttal of your rebuttal, published today on the link you gave.
I think he has a good point about presupposing the truth of belief systems; a "belief" is something you think is true, and if you are going to argue from a specific belief system, you are going to hold it as true.
I wouldn't say atheism is a belief system, but you probably meant the belief system of materialism that most atheists subscribe to. I would argue that this is a valid belief system to hold as an assumption, because it is the only one that produces predictable results. It is the theist that argues that materialism is not the only belief system that works, and it is therefore up to them to reason why things like spiritualism are equally valid. I have seen no reasoning by theists on the existence of spiritualism that cannot equally be explained without it.
Interesting debate though.
I think he has a good point about presupposing the truth of belief systems; a "belief" is something you think is true, and if you are going to argue from a specific belief system, you are going to hold it as true.
I wouldn't say atheism is a belief system, but you probably meant the belief system of materialism that most atheists subscribe to. I would argue that this is a valid belief system to hold as an assumption, because it is the only one that produces predictable results. It is the theist that argues that materialism is not the only belief system that works, and it is therefore up to them to reason why things like spiritualism are equally valid. I have seen no reasoning by theists on the existence of spiritualism that cannot equally be explained without it.
Interesting debate though.
