RE: Reasons to despise " god " ( in the almost zero possibility of he/she/its existence )
November 2, 2008 at 7:58 pm
The Dawkins scale is deeply flawed because Richard Dawkins does not understand the word "agnostic" (at least not when he wrote his book). Agnosticism is not a half-way point between atheism and theism. I came up with my own (more complex) version of the scale after reading The God Delusion:
1 - Strong Gnostic Theist (one who believes in God, says God is provable, and that they know God exists)
2 - Weak Gnostic Theist (one who believes in God, says God is provable, and is certain God exists)
3 - Strong Agnostic Theist (one who believes in God, says God is not provable, but is certain God exists)
4 - Weak Agnostic Theist (one who believes in God, says God is not provable, and makes no claim about certainty)
5 - Deist (one who believes in a specific form of non-intervention God)
6 - Weak Agnostic Atheist (one who disbelieves in God, says God's non-existence is not provable, and makes no claim about certainty)
7 - Strong Agnostic Atheist (one who disbelieves in God, says God's non-existence is not provable, but is certain about God's non-existence)
8 - Weak Gnostic Atheist (one who disbelieves in God, says God's non-existence is provable, and is certain about God's non-existence)
9 - Strong Gnostic Atheist (one who disbelieves in God, says God's non-existence is provable, and claims to know there is no God)
A few notes about the "Hayter Scale":
- "God" is referred to as the idea of God, not any one in particular. Hence the special section for deists.
- The scale accurately portrays the differences between belief, knowledge, and certainty. Generally speaking, theism/atheist relates to belief, agnostic/gnostic relates to knowledge, and "strong"/"weak" relate to certainty.
- Deists by nature are agnostic, simply because their God is one of non-intervention, and thereby unprovable. An extended version of the scale could include both "strong deism" and "weak deism" to show certainty. I consider deism an adequate halfway point, because it is a "minimal" God view which supports the naturalistic side of atheism (i.e. bits of both).
In my experience through talking to people on here (heads up to Ace) and through my blog, I think everyone can find a slot on this scale. The only people who cannot are those who do not correctly understand the semantics of certain words, or the relationships between belief, knowledge, and certainty.
FYI, I'm ranked at #7 on the scale.
I'm also open to improvements / questions about explanations / general insults concerning the amount of time I have on my hands when deriving these things.
1 - Strong Gnostic Theist (one who believes in God, says God is provable, and that they know God exists)
2 - Weak Gnostic Theist (one who believes in God, says God is provable, and is certain God exists)
3 - Strong Agnostic Theist (one who believes in God, says God is not provable, but is certain God exists)
4 - Weak Agnostic Theist (one who believes in God, says God is not provable, and makes no claim about certainty)
5 - Deist (one who believes in a specific form of non-intervention God)
6 - Weak Agnostic Atheist (one who disbelieves in God, says God's non-existence is not provable, and makes no claim about certainty)
7 - Strong Agnostic Atheist (one who disbelieves in God, says God's non-existence is not provable, but is certain about God's non-existence)
8 - Weak Gnostic Atheist (one who disbelieves in God, says God's non-existence is provable, and is certain about God's non-existence)
9 - Strong Gnostic Atheist (one who disbelieves in God, says God's non-existence is provable, and claims to know there is no God)
A few notes about the "Hayter Scale":
- "God" is referred to as the idea of God, not any one in particular. Hence the special section for deists.
- The scale accurately portrays the differences between belief, knowledge, and certainty. Generally speaking, theism/atheist relates to belief, agnostic/gnostic relates to knowledge, and "strong"/"weak" relate to certainty.
- Deists by nature are agnostic, simply because their God is one of non-intervention, and thereby unprovable. An extended version of the scale could include both "strong deism" and "weak deism" to show certainty. I consider deism an adequate halfway point, because it is a "minimal" God view which supports the naturalistic side of atheism (i.e. bits of both).
In my experience through talking to people on here (heads up to Ace) and through my blog, I think everyone can find a slot on this scale. The only people who cannot are those who do not correctly understand the semantics of certain words, or the relationships between belief, knowledge, and certainty.
FYI, I'm ranked at #7 on the scale.
I'm also open to improvements / questions about explanations / general insults concerning the amount of time I have on my hands when deriving these things.
