RE: Your stance on Hard Atheism
October 29, 2014 at 2:59 pm
(This post was last modified: October 29, 2014 at 3:21 pm by Bibliofagus.)
(October 29, 2014 at 2:41 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote:(October 29, 2014 at 2:15 pm)Bibliofagus Wrote: We are explicitly giving special credit to the specific idea a god exists when we say we are agnostic. And I think thats a stupid thing to do.
Maybe you are. I do not.
I use agnostic in the etymological sense of the term, meaning that I do not know. That is clearly not giving credit to the idea that god(s) exist(s).
Gnosis refers to knowledge, "theist" refers to god-belief, and the two ought not be conflated.
That's the thing. Ever heard anyone claim he's an agnostic regarding anything other than the existence of god? I think I haven't, and certainly not in the numbers we atheists do it. Does agnostic really mean 'i'm not sure about anything really' while in practice it is only used to describe a position of knowledge of the very specific claim a god exists?
Sure: It's intellectually honest to claim agnosticism. When pressed for answers on specific questions on the subject I fall in the category of agnostic atheist myself. But I don't label myself that way up front. Just like I don't label myself agnostic on other stuff I 'only' have as much knowledge about to consistently act in my or my loved ones best interests.
(October 29, 2014 at 2:41 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I do not know that no god exists.
I don't know if we are or are not brains in vats, being cruelly tricked into thinking 2 plus 2 equals 4. Yet whenever anyone asks me how much is 2 plus 2, I never say 'well i'm an agnostic mathmatitionist but I believe the answer is 4'.
(October 29, 2014 at 2:41 pm)Parkers Tan Wrote: I have seen no evidence for one, and based upon that, I do not believe one exists. That is certainly not giving credence to the idea that god exists. It is doing exactly the opposite, without making the illogical leap of claiming that god certainly doesn't exist.
There's a third option however: treating the evidenceless claims of god just the same as all other evidenceless claims. It's Hitchens razor really.
(October 29, 2014 at 2:22 pm)LastPoet Wrote:(October 29, 2014 at 2:15 pm)Bibliofagus Wrote: Only atheists do this, and they/we only do it when confronted with a god claim. I wonder why.....
It pisses off the religionist freaks.
Does it? How does that work? (I'm serious)
