On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 7:27 PM, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net> wrote:
> On 1/10/2013 6:20 AM, Platonist Guitar Cowboy wrote: > > I have never understood what it means to be atheist. Sometimes it appears > to mean existentialist "not Christian god", another appearance is "not > organized religion", which both appear reasonable. > > Intuitively however, I've always asked myself: "what are they talking > about?" as we're all invested in beliefs or working hypothesis (whatever > you wanna call these structures primitively) of one sort or another. > Physical, scientific, mystical, mathematical, computational, financial, > political, biological, creative, group solidarity + individualism spectrum, > and yes also beer, drugs, shopping attitudes etc. are all areas where you > limit or enable mucking about with core assumptions, either skeptically > distant or suspending disbelief, to avoid hell or approach some utopia in > mind. > > Implied by every thought operation, every action, we at a certain point > take a leap of faith, we bet on some belief, deity, working hypothesis. > > I don't see how an agent can act or decide without this, which is why I > can't understand the proposition that entity exists without belief in > something that transcends them, that they want or wish to avoid. Ok, you > can blame me for not differentiating between absolutely static belief and > work-in-progress working hypothesis, fine. But the result still is that > some force of propositions have convinced or forced us to invest in them. > > I should maybe speak to more atheists to get it perhaps, or maybe somebody > here can point me towards a flaw to get what people mean with "atheist". > Oddly, I often find the same "this I take for granted attitude, that > anything else makes me smile condescendingly", that even keeps me from > bringing it up. > > > Do you know what "theist" means? > > Brent > If you could clarify your question, why you ask, it would be easier. That is so broad: what does anything mean in some absolute sense, or are you playing some specific frame? That broadly though: Greek root theos, so god/transcendental principle + ism, implying a more or less flexible belief, held by adherents. Whether anthropomorphic, interactive, or any other feature of deity in question, the term is used in more or less broad terms to denote belief it one or more supreme beings. And yes you could differentiate endlessly here... but to what end? -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
