StephenPG wrote: > Atheism is not a theory, it is simply a lack of belief. > > Pity you forgot the dictionary reference when you posted your first > comment regarding atheism. > > > > Where does the O.E.D state that atheism is logically indefensible? > > From Wikipedia, "Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of > belief in the existence of deities."
Hi Stephen! The dictionary gives only definitions of words, rather than offering any analysis of the consequence of their meaning. It is my personal proposition that it is a logically indefensible position, since I cannot envisage any rational means of investigating its validity. Since we're all so keen on science here, perhaps you (or someone else) would suggest a scientific means of investigating both atheism & theism? I should then be happy to withdraw my proposition. As regards my use of the word "logical", before we are again delving in our dictionaries, may I politely refer you to Proposition 7 of Ludwig Wittgenstein's "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" for which the accepted English translation is "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent". This work was published in its original German in 1921, with an English translation following in 1922 containing a foreword by Bertrand Russell who declared (one might suspect somewhat reluctantly) that he could find no fault with it. This was the moment I mentioned in an earlier post that Logical Philosophy abandoned its attempts to find meaningful answers to any question beginning with the word "why". Only a theist would now advance any answer to a question beginning with the word "why", although many people (myself included) would be likely to find any such answer unconvincing, since it would of necessity rely upon a claim of "special knowledge", analogous in many respects to the claims of the "golden-eared" which many members of this forum take great pleasure in deriding. At last I've got back to at least a passing reference to audio. It is strange how my background summary of the place of science in world thought which seemed so irrelevant (& off-topic) to some when I attempted it in an earlier post has suddenly sprung to my defence on a matter of detail. Perhaps I'm not talking out of my hat after all... Anyway, I do hope that I've clarified sufficiently now. Dave :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Golden Earring's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=66646 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=106914 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
