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Author Topic:   Logically speaking: God is knowable
iano
Member (Idle past 1959 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 136 of 187 (353670)
10-02-2006 3:54 PM
Reply to: Message 131 by Legend
10-02-2006 2:05 PM


Re: I've lost the plot!
When I say "I know God exists" folk won't all pile on and say I can't know such a thing. And when they are tempted to suppose I am deluded that they see 3 fingers pointing back at themselves.
You do know that sowing doubt in ones disbelief is the tool of an evangelist I trust.
You do know that sowing possibility is the tool of the apologist I trust.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 131 by Legend, posted 10-02-2006 2:05 PM Legend has not replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1959 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 137 of 187 (353671)
10-02-2006 3:56 PM
Reply to: Message 132 by Dr Adequate
10-02-2006 2:06 PM


Your point seemed to be about finding one instance of God not doing what he is defined to do. And mine, in rebuttal was posing the impossibility of totally defining God making such a search moot.
More I cannot remember at this point. Its been a long week

This message is a reply to:
 Message 132 by Dr Adequate, posted 10-02-2006 2:06 PM Dr Adequate has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 142 by Dr Adequate, posted 10-02-2006 4:11 PM iano has replied

  
Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 303 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 138 of 187 (353672)
10-02-2006 4:00 PM
Reply to: Message 135 by Faith
10-02-2006 3:26 PM


The difference, Faith, is that whereas knowledge implies belief that one knows, the converse is not the case.

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 Message 135 by Faith, posted 10-02-2006 3:26 PM Faith has not replied

Replies to this message:
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iano
Member (Idle past 1959 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 139 of 187 (353673)
10-02-2006 4:02 PM
Reply to: Message 133 by New Cat's Eye
10-02-2006 2:14 PM


nor knowing that god doesn't exist. How is that different?
None of the other claims of knowing: knowing God exist, knowing Allah exists or knowing the computer screen exists claim it is necessary to know everything in order to stand up logically. The person who says God doesn't exist must, logically, know everything meaning they are God.
Remember the title of the thread is "logically.." A person can say that can know everything whilst ignoring logic. That is quite a different matter

This message is a reply to:
 Message 133 by New Cat's Eye, posted 10-02-2006 2:14 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 146 by New Cat's Eye, posted 10-02-2006 4:31 PM iano has replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1959 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 140 of 187 (353674)
10-02-2006 4:07 PM
Reply to: Message 135 by Faith
10-02-2006 3:26 PM


What took you? You telling me you got something better to do?

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iano
Member (Idle past 1959 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 141 of 187 (353675)
10-02-2006 4:10 PM
Reply to: Message 138 by Dr Adequate
10-02-2006 4:00 PM


The difference, Faith, is that whereas knowledge implies belief that one knows, the converse is not the case.
Converse:
Belief implies knowledge that one believes. Sounds fine to me

This message is a reply to:
 Message 138 by Dr Adequate, posted 10-02-2006 4:00 PM Dr Adequate has replied

Replies to this message:
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Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 303 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 142 of 187 (353676)
10-02-2006 4:11 PM
Reply to: Message 137 by iano
10-02-2006 3:56 PM


Yes, but we don't need to totally define him; we just need to know some of his attributes. If God is required to be omnipotent, then if we add, as in my example, the attribute that he wishes everything to be pink, we could disprove this pink-god by means of these two attributes (plus the observation of one non-pink thing) without having a complete knowledge of the pink-god. These facts alone would suffice.
There is, you will note, no way to for the pink-god apologist to get out of this by saying: "Yes, grass is green, but maybe the pink-god also wants some things to be green"; because that gives us a pink-god who is a logical contradiction. No attributes added to the specification of the pink-god can remove his desire that all things be pink; they can only contradict it, rendering him a logical impossibility.

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 Message 137 by iano, posted 10-02-2006 3:56 PM iano has replied

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Dr Adequate
Member (Idle past 303 days)
Posts: 16113
Joined: 07-20-2006


Message 143 of 187 (353681)
10-02-2006 4:14 PM
Reply to: Message 141 by iano
10-02-2006 4:10 PM


That's not the converse.
The converse would be "belief that one knows implies knowledge".
You really shouldn't start threads with the words "logically speaking" in the title if you don't know the vocabulary of logic.

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 Message 141 by iano, posted 10-02-2006 4:10 PM iano has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 145 by iano, posted 10-02-2006 4:22 PM Dr Adequate has replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1959 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 144 of 187 (353682)
10-02-2006 4:18 PM
Reply to: Message 142 by Dr Adequate
10-02-2006 4:11 PM


That's a fair point. You probably made it earlier but I didn't get it until now. Okay..say one of Gods many attributes is wrath against sin. If you can find one example where God is not wrathful against sin the a God who is wrathful is disproven
There is an expression in Irish which invokes a sense of wishing good fortune on someone embarking on a journey which (curiously enough) states "May the road rise before you" I would have thought wishing an uphill climb to be other than wishing good fortune but I suspect it may be appropriate in this case (as in sheer cliff)
(Prophecy: you may want to open a thread here. I suspect the appropriate forum for it would be Bible Study.)

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iano
Member (Idle past 1959 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 145 of 187 (353683)
10-02-2006 4:22 PM
Reply to: Message 143 by Dr Adequate
10-02-2006 4:14 PM


The converse would be "belief that one knows implies knowledge".
I assume the person stating so has something other than belief to support this view. What would that be?

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 Message 143 by Dr Adequate, posted 10-02-2006 4:14 PM Dr Adequate has replied

Replies to this message:
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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 146 of 187 (353688)
10-02-2006 4:31 PM
Reply to: Message 139 by iano
10-02-2006 4:02 PM


None of the other claims of knowing: knowing God exist, knowing Allah exists or knowing the computer screen exists claim it is necessary to know everything in order to stand up logically. The person who says God doesn't exist must, logically, know everything meaning they are God.
A few points to make:
1) Knowing everything does not make you God.
2) When you describe 'knowing' as this:
quote:
Knowing something does not mean that actually is the case. Not my knowing God exists, nor a Muslim knowing Allah exists, nor you knowing there is a computer screen on front of you.
Knowing is the best anyone can say regarding their own certainty. The highest court in anyones land. But that doesn't mean a thing if the objective reality one resides in is not in fact objective. Which of us is deluded, you, the muslim, me. There is no way to tell for any of us (unless of course God exists - then we are not reliant on our assumptions about reality. He can overcome them - being God)
Lets not put knowing above its station huh?
then you wouldn't have to know everything to claim that station of knowledge. So I still don't see how they are different. And it still seems like you are using diferent definitions of 'know' for knowing god exists versus knowing he doesn't.
3) With an accepted defnition of knowing something, you wouldn't have to know everything to 'know', by your defintion, that god doesn't exist.
Does knowing that god doesn't exist require you to know the 145 digit in the number pi, or what I had for lunch yesterday, or what Homer Simpson's last line in episode 92 was? Why would you have to know these things to 'know' that god doesn't exist?

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 Message 139 by iano, posted 10-02-2006 4:02 PM iano has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 149 by iano, posted 10-02-2006 5:06 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

  
Brian
Member (Idle past 4978 days)
Posts: 4659
From: Scotland
Joined: 10-22-2002


Message 147 of 187 (353693)
10-02-2006 4:54 PM
Reply to: Message 135 by Faith
10-02-2006 3:26 PM


There's no difference, but that isn't what Ian is saying.
Brian.

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 Message 135 by Faith, posted 10-02-2006 3:26 PM Faith has not replied

  
nator
Member (Idle past 2188 days)
Posts: 12961
From: Ann Arbor
Joined: 12-09-2001


Message 148 of 187 (353698)
10-02-2006 4:58 PM
Reply to: Message 130 by iano
10-02-2006 2:00 PM


quote:
You obviously haven't been paying attention at the back Brian. Knowing something does not mean that actually is the case. Not my knowing God exists, nor a Muslim knowing Allah exists, nor you knowing there is a computer screen on front of you.
Knowing is the best anyone can say regarding their own certainty. The highest court in anyones land. But that doesn't mean a thing if the objective reality one resides in is not in fact objective. Which of us is deluded, you, the muslim, me. There is no way to tell for any of us (unless of course God exists - then we are not reliant on our assumptions about reality. He can overcome them - being God)
So, do you suggest that "strong belief", rather than empirical evidence should be given the same weight in, say, medical science?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 130 by iano, posted 10-02-2006 2:00 PM iano has not replied

  
iano
Member (Idle past 1959 days)
Posts: 6165
From: Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Joined: 07-27-2005


Message 149 of 187 (353701)
10-02-2006 5:06 PM
Reply to: Message 146 by New Cat's Eye
10-02-2006 4:31 PM


1) Knowing everything does not make you God.
You have asked the very best questions of them all in this thread in my opinion CS. The least fluff, the most bang per buck. Hats off. I'm heading off - its late and I'm tired.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 146 by New Cat's Eye, posted 10-02-2006 4:31 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

Replies to this message:
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New Cat's Eye
Inactive Member


Message 150 of 187 (353703)
10-02-2006 5:10 PM
Reply to: Message 149 by iano
10-02-2006 5:06 PM


You have asked the very best questions of them all in this thread in my opinion CS. The least fluff, the most bang per buck. Hats off.
Awe, shucks
I'm heading off - its late and I'm tired.
I'll be looking for your reply tomarrow, to points 1 2 AND 3

This message is a reply to:
 Message 149 by iano, posted 10-02-2006 5:06 PM iano has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 151 by iano, posted 10-02-2006 5:28 PM New Cat's Eye has replied

  
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