"When X changes my mind, I'm an atheist. What is X?" Is it a nonsense question?
Here, lightly paraphrased, are three assertions I found in a Kindle book from www.edge.org (What Have You Changed Your Mind About?).
When thinking changes my mind, I'm a philosopher.
When a god changes my mind, I'm a theist.
When facts change my mind, I'm a scientist.
About a week ago an xian I know told me atheism is a religion. I asked him for his evidence and he right away backed off, saying he didn't want to debate the matter. I told him an assertion made without evidence can be denied without evidence, and that he and I had a standoff.
Thinking about our exchange and then seeing the above led me to devise this question: When X changes my mind, I'm an atheist. What is X?
Tags: atheism, philosophy, religion, science
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tom Sarbeck on -
I'm recalling the time in a Catholic school religion class when a nun said doubting my faith is a sin, and I protested (to myself) that unless I doubt I'm unable to think. Is doubt the X? Skepticism?
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Permalink Reply by diggerbanks on -
Perspective. Context. Non-consensus.
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Permalink Reply by Mabel on -
For me X was the wall of doubts that became to high for me to scramble over any longer. So yes, I agree with Len's answer (reality).
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Permalink Reply by Tom on
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I'm afraid the question doesn't really make sense. In all the other cases (philosopher, theist, scientist) the final position derives from the method (X) that is particularly relevant: I choose God (X), therefore I am a theist. In the atheist case there is no method that is peculiar to atheism. Atheism isn't a position that reflects a certain unique method, rather it is a belief (or non-belief) that derives from the successful application of two existing methods: 'thinking' and 'facts'. I would say something like: when 'thinking' AND 'facts' change my mind, I'm an atheist (because atheism derives only from those two things). I don't think there is any particular way of thinking or object/theory etc. that leads to atheism.
I don't know if I explained myself very well...
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