atheism, philosophy and emotional immaturity

[thesummerqueen]

It has come to my attention that many atheists believe that the argument from authority is essentially a fallacious argument. I am not going to argue that the argument from authority is, in essence, a fallacy. That is too obvious of a point to make. Of course the argument from authority is a real argument and not a blatant logical fallacy (and of course some arguments from authority are better than others and some are completely fallacious).

So…it’s a fallacy but not a fallacy? Hmmmm…

Age - people that believe that the argument from authority is fallacious are typically under 25.

Source? If it’s your own observation, that’s not good enough.

Hubris - Hubris is a vice that is related to people having a greater sense of self confidence than is warranted given a certain situation.

Source? This is your own biased judgment call.

Over confidence in informal reason as a means to understand to understand the world. Reason is a valuable tool that can be used to understand the world.

I’m glad we agree that “reason” is a valuable tool. Please begin to demonstrate it.

I think their are issues related to adolescent and young adult development that are involved in the rejection of the argument from authority that are significant to understanding the atheist approach to religious epistemology, and epistemology in general.

False. Many atheists fall for the argument from authority. It just happens in a way that has nothing to do with god. Please

Thanks for being a good example of what I am saying Mr Infidel. I can see from your profile that you are under 20. You posted an image of propaganda telling people to think for yourself, but you didn't argue why, you just repeated what they told you.

His age has nothing to do with it. Also, it’s not propaganda.

Do you see how this is contradictory to the message? If you thought for yourself, wouldn't you defend your ideas clearly and not repeat a trite slogan?

I didn’t think such a statement needed an explanation. Did you need an explanation on why you should think for yourself? My goodness – we’ve hit upon the very problem, haven’t we?

When I was young, I used to do crazy things and rebel against people and think I was thinking for myself and this and that. Really, I was just following the trends of the counterculture which was using all these ideas to try and mold me into the atheist/socialist they wanted me to become.

Darling, no one cares. About you, I mean. And by that I mean there isn’t some overarching counterculture conspiracy out to get you. You seem to feel you’re important enough for a massive group of people to try to sway you to their side. You also seem to be afraid of things you experienced.

I am not against questioning authority, but I think the principle should be applied with wisdom. It is not good to question the authority of doctors and say "If you have cancer, don't go to the doctor, I am questioning authority". Authority is a good thing. That is how the world works, there are authorities because some know more than others.

I don’t think you quite understand what it means to question authority.

Someone could make an argument from authority to a church that had a history of 2000 years of giving authoritative pronouncements that shaped entire civilizations.

Pronouncements that can’t be quantified anywhere else. Big problem.

I was in high school for 5 1/2 years and I dropped out of college. I am not better or smarter than anyone else and I'm not trying to be. I just realize that some of you guys don't know what you are talking about.

I barely made it out of high school and I’m only just now going to college. I’m definitely not smarter than many members on this board. I just realize that you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, because you want to be right so badly you won’t even read what’s being written to you. Ever.

Notice that even the evidence presented in the form of 3 textbooks that are cited is itself an argument from authority.

My little cupcake, that is a mechanism to cite your source. That way people can go back and check it. It doesn’t make the book “an authority”.

Because I am a dumb person. I looked at Mr Infidels profile and went to his website and you can see his picture. He looks like someone who would post a response to the thoughtful, 4 or 5 paragraphs with an image saying "question authority", without argument. How ironic.

You were dumb because you based your judgment on a profile picture. The profile picture is one mode of expression in a multi-faceted person. It does not carry the entirety of a person’s personality or reality. I realize you have a problem telling fantasy from reality, but this is beyond stupid.

Emotional immaturity is when you post a one sentence argument for a position that is a naked assertion that is completely radical, even by the standards of atheist approaches to knowledge, and you think you are automatically right because Christian beliefs are "irrational".

Emotional immaturity is expecting people to bow to your way of thinking and communicating. Intellectual immaturity is not understanding that one sentence can make an argument as long as it’s a sound one. I think I joked to Deist Paladin once because he accepted my line of thinking on only 2 sentences, whereas another theist on this board used to give him 2 pages.

Ok, that is what I believe. So what is the significance in saying that atheism is not a belief, atheism is rejecting belief? Isn't the intention to imply that atheism does not require any sense of justification for its rejection of theistic claims?

Please look at this:





Atheism is not a belief. Atheism is a lack of belief in god. Where God would be is a blank slate. Nada. Void.

You can be atheist because you never believed in “god”. You can be an atheist and believe in many other things.

Do not come back until you have figured these sentences out.