Knowledge is a subset of belief, that is to say… you cannot know something unless you also believe it, and is a primary study within epistemology.
There are a number of knowledge theories such a Justified True Belief, Coherence theory, Fallibilism, Verificationism, Positivism, as well as colloquial uses which include things like “awareness of information”
Scepticism(or Skepticism for our American readers) is often seen simply as doubt. For those that are desperate for a simplistic definition of scepticism, reasoned and reasonable doubt might be more suitable than just doubt on its own. Please note, a simplistic definition is rarely going to cover the inner workings and, whilst is a good…
Read More “Scepticism: Doubt, Denial and Dogmatism in The Skeptic Community” »
“You can’t prove a negative” is such a common phrase among atheists these days and it’s ridiculous!
Do You really think you can’t prove a negative or non-existence?
Well, you’re mistaken – check out this post to find out how!
I’m an atheist, I believe gods do not exist, though atheism is polysemous so not all atheists use it that way and I want to address a term some atheists use known as agnostic atheism. This article is the written form of the video, so, if you prefer to watch, please check the below: Agnostic…
Knowledge, is it just things you know? What do we mean by know and knowledge? Why does there seem to be muddiness in its application? For the most part, when I discuss knowledge I am talking about epistemic or propositional knowledge, but what does that mean? What are other uses of knowledge? Is there a…
The null hypothesis is used in science, and we atheists tend to have a lot of respect for science, the scientific method, scientific and empirical evidence. We think of ourselves as logical and rational people. We feel we know a lot about the topics we discuss, especially when it comes to science. In conversations with…
Read More “Misunderstanding The Null Hypothesis and Knowledge.” »
We’ve covered a number of different articles about how ‘Words are funny things!‘ and can have multiple meanings. The word, know, is no different in this regard. As a word by itself or in a phrase can be used to describe a number of things. Knowledge Information Awareness Certainty/Uncertainty Therefore, it can be said that…
It is very common to hear folks use the term agnostic atheist to describe themselves, and others. Let me say that you are free to identify how you like, though I would suggest you don’t be prescriptive with your identification on to others. If you wonder why; consider if you are the sort to tell…
I figured I would write some notes in response to a video I watched of ‘Caffeine Corner’ with Steve and Chesh and found I ended up writing almost 11 pages of notes – I figured may as well sort it out and post it as an article. Before I get accused of bias, I will…
Read More “Analysis of ‘Caffeine Corner w/David C. Smalley: A Philosophical Discussion’” »
I was invited on Cheshire’s live stream ‘A Goblin Reads’ with Dave as she had seen my discussion with Aron about his belief that ‘Rocks are atheist!’ who then wrote a post called ‘What is Atheism?‘ In planning for this, I started reading Aron’s article where he argues why his definition of atheism is the…
Introduction The sun will rise tomorrow. This seems to be an uncontroversial statement. The sun came up today, and the sun came up yesterday, and the day before that. Just as it has for millions of days before that. Gravity held today, just as it has held since the formation of the universe. This is,…
Introduction One of our authors, Davidian, here at Answers in Reason recently published an excellent article discussing the burden of proof on beliefs. The response to this article by many atheists and sceptics on Twitter was interesting to say the least. It received an awful lot of pushback, with many arguing that Davidian did not…
Introduction There will, of course, be many contemporary sceptics and atheist who read the title and simply groan. Dismissing the article before reading it because of some misinformed idea about Cartesian scepticism, or some excuse that they do not need to read up on scepticism because they are ‘freethinking truth-seeking sceptics’ already. To some extent,…
I’ve had the “Burden of Proof” discussion many times recently, and a lot of it comes down to semantic issues with definitions of claim & belief, as well as the logic around propositions.
I hope to clear up some of the confusion with this article.
Hello, and welcome to Fresh AiR! – I’m Joe… Words you will have heard a few times if you have already started listening to season one. What is Fresh AiR? ‘Fresh AiR’ is a podcast, hosted by Joe, Martijn and Dave. It is part of Answers in Reason but hopes to bring a fresh perspective…
