You cant prove a negative!
June 30, 2011 at 12:09 pm
(This post was last modified: June 30, 2011 at 1:05 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
I've seen this statement repeated by theists as though it were a logical weapon of mass destruction, capable of ending any argument proposing the non-existence of god. I've also seen "polite atheists"? repeat this sentiment when attempting to explain their position. The statement is actually incomplete, it should be stated (if you wish to make this statement) that "you can't prove a universal negative."
The problem with this statement, in both forms, is that it is inherently false. consider the following:
"There are no planets between Venus and Earth"
This is a singular negative, and it can be proven.
"There are no prime numbers whose square root is a rational number"
This is a universal negative, and it can be proven.
The method one employs to prove this particular universal negative is proof by contradiction, itself a form of reductio ad absurdum. Strong Atheists sometimes employ this argument to show that a god with any set of contradictory characteristics cannot exist in the known world. If one wished to wholly avoid this argument being applied against their proposition, one could formulate an argument such as
God cannot be defined
That which cannot be defined cannot be dis-proven
God cannot be dis-proven.
We do in fact see this argument[/i] in debate after debate. Completely ignoring the issue that this statement is factually meaningless, there is still a problem with this argument. Stating that god cannot be defined is in at least one respect defining god; as a concept belonging to a set of concepts which cannot be defined, which is subject to proof by contradiction.
This is one of the reasons that apologetics continue to be refined. That people attempt to prove the existence of god with logic is unsurprising to me, that people continue to assert that a negative (singular or universal) cannot be proven is.
As a side note. I'm a high-school drop out, and I can wrap my head around these concepts. This leads me to believe that anyone can do the same, some are simply unwilling.
Late edit: Claiming that logic can support the god proposition and yet is simultaneously powerless to defeat it is dishonest.
The problem with this statement, in both forms, is that it is inherently false. consider the following:
"There are no planets between Venus and Earth"
This is a singular negative, and it can be proven.
"There are no prime numbers whose square root is a rational number"
This is a universal negative, and it can be proven.
The method one employs to prove this particular universal negative is proof by contradiction, itself a form of reductio ad absurdum. Strong Atheists sometimes employ this argument to show that a god with any set of contradictory characteristics cannot exist in the known world. If one wished to wholly avoid this argument being applied against their proposition, one could formulate an argument such as
God cannot be defined
That which cannot be defined cannot be dis-proven
God cannot be dis-proven.
We do in fact see this argument[/i] in debate after debate. Completely ignoring the issue that this statement is factually meaningless, there is still a problem with this argument. Stating that god cannot be defined is in at least one respect defining god; as a concept belonging to a set of concepts which cannot be defined, which is subject to proof by contradiction.
This is one of the reasons that apologetics continue to be refined. That people attempt to prove the existence of god with logic is unsurprising to me, that people continue to assert that a negative (singular or universal) cannot be proven is.
As a side note. I'm a high-school drop out, and I can wrap my head around these concepts. This leads me to believe that anyone can do the same, some are simply unwilling.
Late edit: Claiming that logic can support the god proposition and yet is simultaneously powerless to defeat it is dishonest.
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