(February 12, 2014 at 8:04 am)whateverist Wrote:(February 12, 2014 at 7:21 am)Bob101 Wrote: Hi,
As Atheist's like to claim the logical high ground for some reason, I was just wondering if any of you can actually give me one logical/rational explanation for Atheism, in particular Materialistic Atheism, which is the only kind as far as I am aware.
Btw I am not Religious or Atheist.
Cheers,
Bob
So you claim that atheists universally claim the "logical high ground"? I don't agree but lets move on.
As has already been pointed out to you, most of us do not claim to know whether or not gods exist. We merely do not believe in any based on what we now know. Upon receiving more adequate evidence we of course will be free to revise what we believe. So atheism as such does not necessarily entail a knowledge claim. It is merely a statement regarding a class of beliefs, those involving gods.
So, whether or not you are an agnostic surely you know whether you entertain a belief in a god, don't you? I know nothing of any gods, and so like you am an agnostic. But I know I have not a shred of belief in any gods since nothing I have experienced or been told has been sufficient to engender such a belief. How about you? Do you have any belief in gods?
Perhaps you have as much difficulty answering this question as I do. I have only the vaguest of ideas what a god is supposed to be. It is pretty tough evaluating the existence of something that is so fuzzily defined as a god. But from what I can gather, I don't find I pay them (gods) any mind in making any decisions. They are a non-factor in my deliberations. Do you find yourself taking the possible existence of gods into account in your deliberations? If not, I suspect you are actually an atheist, someone devoid of a belief in gods.
Fair enough you don't believe in god, but whether you factor god in you deliberations or not has nothing to do with whether or not god exists. Our deliberations, words, thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, symbols, labels, language, are all merely manifestations of conciousness and mind.
It's fine if people are pretty indifferent to it and just want to live their life either believing or not believing. But I was asking the people who have a strong view point within Atheism if they have a logical reason for Materialism as opposed to Theism, or any other of the many theories of the cosmos. I actually know that there isn't a logical stand point for Atheism, so in asking the question I just wanted to gauge what people thought as one.
