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posted by martyb on Sunday January 20 2019, @10:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the Fee-Fie-Fou-Fhum-Fideism-Falafel dept.

Commentary at Salon!

Should you believe in a God? Not according to most academic philosophers. A comprehensive survey revealed that only about 14 percent of English speaking professional philosophers are theists. As for what little religious belief remains among their colleagues, most professional philosophers regard it as a strange aberration among otherwise intelligent people. Among scientists the situation is much the same. Surveys of the members of the National Academy of Sciences, composed of the most prestigious scientists in the world, show that religious belief among them is practically nonexistent, about 7 percent.

[...] Now nothing definitely follows about the truth of a belief from what the majority of philosophers or scientists think. But such facts might cause believers discomfort. There has been a dramatic change in the last few centuries in the proportion of believers among the highly educated in the Western world. In the European Middle Ages belief in a God was ubiquitous, while today it is rare among the intelligentsia. This change occurred primarily because of the rise of modern science and a consensus among philosophers that arguments for the existence of gods, souls, afterlife and the like were unconvincing. Still, despite the view of professional philosophers and world-class scientists, religious beliefs have a universal appeal. What explains this?

[...] First, if you defend such beliefs by claiming that you have a right to your opinion, however unsupported by evidence it might be, you are referring to a political or legal right, not an epistemic one. You may have a legal right to say whatever you want, but you have epistemic justification only if there are good reasons and evidence to support your claim. If someone makes a claim without concern for reasons and evidence, we should conclude that they simply don't care about what's true. We shouldn't conclude that their beliefs are true because they are fervently held.

Another problem is that fideism—basing one's beliefs exclusively on faith—makes belief arbitrary, leaving no way to distinguish one religious belief from another. Fideism allows no reason to favor your preferred beliefs or superstitions over others. If I must accept your beliefs without evidence, then you must accept mine, no matter what absurdity I believe in. But is belief without reason and evidence worthy of rational beings? Doesn't it perpetuate the cycle of superstition and ignorance that has historically enslaved us? I agree with W.K. Clifford. "It is wrong always, everywhere and for everyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." Why? Because your beliefs affect other people, and your false beliefs may harm them.

I am checking to see what the Church of the Flying Spagetti Monster has to say about all this.


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  • (Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Monday January 21 2019, @12:58AM (8 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Monday January 21 2019, @12:58AM (#789277)

    Fools say "There is no God."

    Am I a fool for saying "There is a tree outside my window."? That is an awfully absolute statement, how can I be soooo sure? Heck, the window is closed and I'm not even looking at it right now! Am I a fool for not testing my belief that there is a tree outside my window before making the statement?

    I'm only a fool if I make that statement but have never looked out my window. I'm only a fool if I only took someone else's word that there was one and never thought about it myself. I'm only a fool if I say there is/isn't one just to make someone happy. I'm only a fool if I look, don't see one, and still believe there is one anyway. I'm only a fool I don't get up and check what that loud chainsaw noise was.

    There is a tree outside of my window.

    And there is no such thing as God.

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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 21 2019, @01:21AM (3 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Monday January 21 2019, @01:21AM (#789293) Homepage Journal

    You're a fool for stating as fact something you believe but cannot prove. Moreover, you're an intentional fool for stating it after hearing its foolishness explained.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @01:53AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 21 2019, @01:53AM (#789325)

      So nothing should ever be stated as fact. We will remember that whenever visiting whatever universe you live in. (Statement qualifier: Within 95% probability, one unknown variable, only some rules of reality apply, offer void in Nebraska)

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday January 21 2019, @02:15AM (1 child)

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday January 21 2019, @02:15AM (#789338) Journal

      Don't confuse the inability to prove universal negatives with specific negative cases.

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Monday January 21 2019, @02:51AM (3 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Monday January 21 2019, @02:51AM (#789368) Journal

    LOL there is no tree outside your window, all we have is your word to believe or not and some of us would not be able to travel to whatever address you are located for your so called 'proof'.

    There sure are people believing there are two tree outside your house, and if there aren't any I can pay and some will crop up. So, I just believe in one less tree than you, our belief is totally equivalent.

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    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 21 2019, @09:12AM (2 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 21 2019, @09:12AM (#789485) Journal

      Actually, there are billions of trees on one side of my window, and billions more on the other side of the same window. I haven't actually counted them all, of course, but they are there.

      • (Score: 2) by Bot on Monday January 21 2019, @12:31PM (1 child)

        by Bot (3902) on Monday January 21 2019, @12:31PM (#789525) Journal

        >trees on the side
        shifting goalposts huh?

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        Account abandoned.