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Must I assume atheism to be true
in
order to refute it?
Email: Hope you can help me with a problem I'm having:
In any argument, do you assume that what your opponent is saying is
pretty much true in order to refute it? For instance, if I'm arguing
against atheism, must I assume atheism in order to refute it? Just for
argument's sake of course to see if it's wrong.
Response: Whenever I discuss atheism with an atheist, I try
and put the emphasis on the atheist and his position. I do not assume
that atheism is true as an argument. instead, I trying to the
atheist to prove his position.
I have various arguments that I use to establish God's
existence and whether or not the atheists except them, does not
invalidate those arguments. But again, I often will ask the atheists to
give me rational arguments for why atheism is true. Note, though, that
atheism is basically a negative position and that I am not asking the
atheist to prove that God does not exist. That is far too
difficult a proposition to impose upon anyone.
Instead, I ask the atheist to give me support for his
open denial of God, or lack of belief in God, or whatever it is that he
defines his atheism as. Usually at this point I discover several
problems in atheist argumentation. For example, an atheist might say
that you cannot prove that God exists. Of course, this is not a logical
statements since the atheist does not know all possible proofs. Or, an
atheist might say that there is no evidence that God exists. The problem
with this argument is that he does not know all possible evidence and
can therefore not authoritatively claim that there is no evidence for
God's existence. I listen to what the atheist says and then I try to
find any logical fallacies or invalid assumptions on his part.
I also sometimes ask the atheist what would constitute
sufficient proof for God's existence and then try and discuss with the
atheist whether or not his criteria is sufficient. If the atheist
says that he does not know what would constitute sufficient proof, but I
respond that he is not thought through the issue sufficiently.
Usually, the conversation will go well. However, I must
admit that many times the atheist becomes more argumentative and less
logical.
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