On 1/10/2013 11:31 AM, Platonist Guitar Cowboy wrote:
On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 7:27 PM, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net
<mailto: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?
Then you know what "atheist" means "... to denote nonbelief in one or more..."
Brent
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