The Truth of it All
What is truth? How can we know if something is true? Do all statements hold a truth value? Can we have subjective truths? When not considered too deeply, these questions seem obvious, but upon greater consideration, they are far more complex. Isn’t everything? In this article, I hope to explain truth and truth-apt statements, give a basic overview of the various theories of truth, and how truth can apply to conversations about morality, inclusive of some common issues that come......
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 tonight’s release on logic and belief. What’s also new is this is not only an AUDIO podcast but also available as a VIDEO, not to......
Propositional Logic and Beliefs – Fresh AiR – S03:E02:C01 (VIDEO)
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 tonight’s release on logic and belief. What’s also new is this is not only an AUDIO podcast but also available as a VIDEO, not to......
Beliefs and Rationality – CMT Vol: 10
I so often see my fellow atheists saying things like ‘I don’t believe x I accept the evidence for x’ and I can’t help but facedesk. I tried to address the problem in articles like I Don’t Believe, Dirty Words: Belief, Faith and Evidence, Beliefs and Logic but so far have not got anywhere. Perhaps the approach I took was providing too much information in one go, and instead I should have kept it simple and to the point, allowing......
Can you prove a negative?
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 them, hoping to get them to consider their thoughts, ‘I think what you mean is; you cannot prove non-existence without a doubt’ and often following......
How good is your evidence for god?
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), so anything that indicates something could be true IS evidence. It doesn’t mean it is strong or convincing though. It also poses an issue when......
More on Beliefs and Justifications
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 understand what an atheist was, what atheism was, and what the burden of proof was. The results were the same when I tried to get......
