(October 22, 2013 at 4:16 pm)Faith No More Wrote: I'm not entirely clear what you're trying to prove. When the theist is talking about objective purpose, what they really mean is a purpose determined by an external source. It is a purpose bestowed upon a being that isn't dependent upon that being, so in that sense, no, an atheist cannot have that.
Actually, notice the parts I underline above: they're possible for an atheist if by 'objective purpose' it is meant "purpose imbued by an external source/another being". Under that definition, you could give me OP, or my parents.
So theists cannot use that if they want to say that atheists must be nihilists while they do not, or that God can grant objective purpose since he is greater than us. But likewise, they have to affirm that only a higher being can grant objective purpose to a being, and a being cannot grant itself OP, otherwise we could to ourselves. So the only seeming option is special pleading.
Quote:Are you trying to show that an atheist can have an objective purpose?
No, read that last paragraph of mine above that quote.
