Language is descriptive. It is defined through use. People might describe their use of words in slightly different ways, be that through regional differences, common usages, or indeed there might be contextually correct usages of words. So what is this Normative thing all about then? When we speak about ‘Normative’ usage of words we largely…
Pitfalls of ‘New Atheism’
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…
Beliefs, Language, and Logic
Introduction Logic is an important part of rationality. After all, acting rationally is acting in accordance with reason and according to the rules of logic, among other things. Which means that understanding the rules of logic are important if one wants to claim rationality for oneself. There is more to logic than simply the rules…
Is That Really a Fallacy?
On a recent podcast, I made a comment that most things that could be considered a fallacy could also not be fallacious. There are some that argue these things are always fallacious. This post hopes to explore a number of common fallacies and see if they are always fallacies, and also when folks might erroneously…
Bad Atheist Arguments – Vol: 03 – Philosophy and Fallacies
The 3rd in the Bad Atheist Arguments series is now here. Having covered the ‘Bible and Evidence‘ in volume 1, and ‘Beliefs and Propositional Logic‘ in volume 2, I felt it time to address philosophy, fallacies, and general errors in our reasoning. Whilst there are a number of common theistic fallacies, we atheists forget sometimes…
Bad Atheist Arguments – Vol: 02 – Beliefs and Logic
Following on from volume 1: Bible and Evidence, I felt it prudent to follow this up with errors many fellow atheists make around beliefs. I too have made some of these statements in the past, and as I looked into things more I realised that some of these statements just don’t make sense or if…
The Burden of Proof – Belief vs Claim – Court Room Analogy
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….
Conflated and Misunderstood Terms – Volume 6: Unbelief and Disbelief
Unbelief (or non-belief) and disbelief are two words that seem to be conflated by many folks on the internet. I’m not sure if this is down to a misunderstanding of their definitions, or just due to how they are quite similar words. I’ve recently written a few articles that are worth reading before this article,…
A Coherent Case for God?
I come across a number of theists on the internet, and I actually enjoy discussing beliefs. There are many theists I prefer to talk to than atheists. You get dogmatic fundy types on both sides. Admittedly I don’t feel any danger from the fundamentalist atheists, they just discuss philosophical concepts ignoring the philosophy. (Which can…
Are we Born Atheist?
“We are all born atheist!” is something we have heard a lot. I’ve said it in the past. I am sure if you are an atheist you have said it too. But how true is that? What is an Atheist? An atheist is someone who subscribes to atheism. Atheism is polysemous (has many definitions).We have…
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