The burden of proof is often discussed, and it is no secret that we constantly see the burden being shifted in debates. Quite often, something is presented with no justification and when asked for is met with: “prove I’m wrong“, “do your own research” or threats. This sort of behaviour can be explained simply through…
Read More “Why Do So Many Misunderstand The Burden of Proof?” »
This is the audio version of the recent YouTube Video An Article version can also be found at: Discussions and The Burden of Proof DavidianI’m Joe. I write under the name Davidian, not only because it is a Machine Head song I enjoy but because it was a game character I used to role-play that…
Read More “Discussions and The Burden of Proof – Podcast Version” »
One of the problems with contemporary social media discourse is jumping around and ahead in the conversation, misusing terms, axioms, and similar and not taking the time to actually have a discussion and understand what the other person is saying. We are too quick to judge people based on the group we think they belong…
Evidence and The Burden of Proof Evidence and the Burden of Proof are commonly talked about in discussions… Unfortunately, many people misunderstand these things so we hope to clear things up! In this stream, we cover: What is Evidence Claims of “not evidence” What is the Burden of Proof? Other Terms for the Burden of…
Propositional Logic and Beliefs Season 3 is all about trying something new. As you might have seen we have been running the SciPhi show on YouTube but in the background we have been planning and producing a bigger and better season 3 for you. Our last episode was on scepticism, and ties in nicely with…
Read More “Propositional Logic and Beliefs – Fresh AiR – S03:E02:C01 (AUDIO)” »
Propositional Logic and Beliefs Season 3 is all about trying something new. As you might have seen we have been running the SciPhi show on YouTube but in the background we have been planning and producing a bigger and better season 3 for you. Our last episode was on scepticism, and ties in nicely with…
Read More “Propositional Logic and Beliefs – Fresh AiR – S03:E02:C01 (VIDEO)” »
I often hear my fellow atheists say things like ‘You can’t prove a negative!’ in a debate. This is often in response to either a theist trying to shift the burden of proof, or a misunderstanding of epistemic justification (aka burden of rationality or burden of proof on a belief position). I often respond to…
This post is set to examine the average theistic presentation of evidence, whether it is strong, weak, convincing, or even really evidence at all. We (atheists) often tell theists their ‘evidence’ is ‘not evidence’, and this is often incorrect. Evidence is indicative rather than completely conclusive (even if we do make conclusions off of evidence),…
I’m an atheist. *Gasp* ‘Hold the phone!’ Hard to believe that an atheist runs an atheist site right? I’ve even been the keyboard warrior type of atheist, although that was many years ago. I spent lots of time debating theists desperately hoping that either they could provide me with some evidence of a deity, or…
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.
