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View Poll Results: Does atheism presuppose God?
Yes, you can't disbelieve something that doesn't exist
7
25.00%
No, you can disbelieve anything whether it exists or not
i know what the word means - but we don't have people running around calling themselves aunicorns and having debates proving that unicorns don't exist.
i'm just wondering if by calling oneself an atheist, then do they smuggle in the presupposition of God's existence in order to disbelieve?
shawn
__________________
"Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics... Even if
you win, you are still retarded..."
"I can't trust a woman who would marry me." ~ AzCards21
"I don't care what you believe, keep your religion out of my peanut butter!" ~ Assface
There is, unfortunately, some disagreement about the definition of atheism. It is interesting to note that most of that disagreement comes from theists — atheists themselves tend to agree on what atheism means. Christians in particular dispute the definition used by atheists and insist that atheism means something very different.
The broader, and more common, understanding of atheism among atheists is quite simply "not believing in any gods." No claims or denials are made — an atheist is just a person who does not happen to be a theist. Sometimes this broader understanding is called "weak" or "implicit" atheism. Most good, complete dictionaries readily support this.
There also exists a narrower sort of atheism, sometimes called "strong" or "explicit" atheism.
With this type, the atheist explicitly denies the existence of any gods — making a strong claim which will deserve support at some point. Some atheists do this and others may do this with regards to certain specific gods but not with others. Thus, a person may lack belief in one god, but deny the existence of another god.
i know what the word means - but we don't have people running around calling themselves aunicorns and having debates proving that unicorns don't exist.
i'm just wondering if by calling oneself an atheist, then do they smuggle in the presupposition of God's existence in order to disbelieve?
shawn
And you also don't have millions of structures dedicated to unicorns, either.
And there are not people on street corners trying to prove the existance of unicorns, now are there? There is no debate on the separate of Unicorn and state - no Pledge of Allegiance with reference to unicorns.....there are not 10-15% of the country trying to open the day with unicorn readings.
There is, unfortunately, some disagreement about the definition of atheism. It is interesting to note that most of that disagreement comes from theists — atheists themselves tend to agree on what atheism means. Christians in particular dispute the definition used by atheists and insist that atheism means something very different.
The broader, and more common, understanding of atheism among atheists is quite simply "not believing in any gods." No claims or denials are made — an atheist is just a person who does not happen to be a theist. Sometimes this broader understanding is called "weak" or "implicit" atheism. Most good, complete dictionaries readily support this.
There also exists a narrower sort of atheism, sometimes called "strong" or "explicit" atheism.
With this type, the atheist explicitly denies the existence of any gods — making a strong claim which will deserve support at some point. Some atheists do this and others may do this with regards to certain specific gods but not with others. Thus, a person may lack belief in one god, but deny the existence of another god.
And you also don't have millions of structures dedicated to unicorns, either.
And there are not people on street corners trying to prove the existance of unicorns, now are there? There is no debate on the separate of Unicorn and state - no Pledge of Allegiance with reference to unicorns.....there are not 10-15% of the country trying to open the day with unicorn readings.
that's what i'm saying.
shawn
__________________
"Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics... Even if
you win, you are still retarded..."
"I can't trust a woman who would marry me." ~ AzCards21
"I don't care what you believe, keep your religion out of my peanut butter!" ~ Assface
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