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Theological Noncognitivism
Theological noncognitivism is the non-theist position that religious language, particularly theological terminology such as 'God', is not intelligible or meaningful, and thus sentences like 'God exists' are cognitively meaningless. This would also imply that sentences like the negation of 'God exists' or 'God does not exist' are likewise meaningless, i.e., neither true nor false. It may be considered synonymous with ignosticism (also called igtheism), a term coined in 1964 by Sherwin Wine, a rabbi and a founding figure of Humanistic Judaism. Arguments Theological noncognitivists argue in different ways, depending on what one considers the " theory of meaning" to be. One argument holds to the claim that definitions of God are irreducible, self-instituting relational, circular. For example, a sentence stating that "God is He who created everything, apart from Himself", is seen as circular rather than an irreducible truth. Michael Martin writing from a verificationist p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-theism
Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and non-religious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in the existence of God or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject of gods and differs from atheism, or active disbelief in any gods. It has been used as an umbrella term for summarizing various distinct and even mutually exclusive positions, such as agnosticism, ignosticism, ietsism, skepticism, pantheism, pandeism, transtheism, atheism ( strong or positive, implicit or explicit), and apatheism. It is in use in the fields of Christian apologetics and general liberal theology. An early usage of the hyphenated term ''non-theism'' is attributed to George Holyoake in 1852. Within the scope of nontheistic agnosticism, philosopher Anthony Kenny distinguishes between agnostics who find the claim "God exists" uncertain and theological noncognitivists who consider all discussion of God to be meaningless. So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept
A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, psychology, and philosophy, and these disciplines are interested in the logical and psychological structure of concepts, and how they are put together to form thoughts and sentences. The study of concepts has served as an important flagship of an emerging interdisciplinary approach, cognitive science. In contemporary philosophy, three understandings of a concept prevail: * mental representations, such that a concept is an entity that exists in the mind (a mental object) * abilities peculiar to cognitive agents (mental states) * Fregean senses, abstract objects rather than a mental object or a mental state Concepts are classified into a hierarchy, higher levels of which are termed "superordinate" and lower levels termed "subordinate". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newton's Flaming Laser Sword
Michael D. Alder is an Australian mathematician, formerly an assistant professor at the University of Western Australia. Alder is known for his popular writing, such as sardonic articles about the lack of basic arithmetic skills in young adults. Career Alder received a B.Sc. in physics from Imperial College, then a PhD in algebraic topology from the University of Liverpool, and an M. Eng. Sc. from the University of Western Australia. He was an assistant professor at the University of Western Australia until 2011. Newton's flaming laser sword Newton's flaming laser sword (also known as Alder's razor) is a philosophical razor devised by Alder and discussed in an essay in the May/June 2004 issue of ''Philosophy Now''. Also available in PDF format: The principle, which addresses the differing views of scientists and philosophers on epistemology and knowledge, was summarized by Alder as follows: The razor is humorously named after Isaac Newton, as it is inspired by Newtonian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and experiences. The term "mysticism" has Ancient Greek origins with various historically determined meanings. Derived from the Greek language, Greek word μύω ''múō'', meaning "to close" or "to conceal", mysticism came to refer to the biblical, liturgical (and sacramental), spiritual, and Christian contemplation, contemplative dimensions of early and medieval Christianity. During the early modern period, the definition of mysticism grew to include a broad range of beliefs and ideologies related to "extraordinary experiences and states of mind". In modern times, "mysticism" has acquired a limited ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Münchhausen Trilemma
In epistemology, the Münchhausen trilemma is a thought experiment intended to demonstrate the theoretical impossibility of proving any truth, even in the fields of logic and mathematics, without appealing to accepted assumptions. If it is asked how any given proposition is known to be true, proof in support of that proposition may be provided. Yet that same question can be asked of that supporting proof and any subsequent supporting proof. The Münchhausen trilemma is that there are only three ways of completing a proof: * The circular argument, in which the proof of some proposition presupposes the truth of that very proposition * The regressive argument, in which each proof requires a further proof, ''ad infinitum'' * The dogmatic argument, which rests on accepted precepts which are merely asserted rather than defended The trilemma, then, is having to choose one of three equally unsatisfying options. Name The name ''Münchhausen-Trilemma'' was coined by the German philo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ineffability
Ineffability is the quality of something that surpasses the capacity of language to express it, often being in the form of a taboo or incomprehensible term. This property is commonly associated with philosophy, theology, aspects of existence, and similar concepts that are inherently "too great", complex or abstract to be communicated adequately. Illogical statements, principles, reasons and arguments may be considered intrinsically ineffable along with impossibilities, contradictions and paradoxes. An object, event or concept is ineffable if it cannot adequately be expressed by the use of natural language. The term (Latin: ''ineffābilis'') is composed of the prefix ''in-'', meaning 'not', and adjective ''effābilis'', meaning 'capable of being expressed'. In Greek, ἄρρητος (α depritive + ῥητὸς) means 'what cannot or should not be spoken of'. Terminology describing the nature of experience cannot be conveyed properly in dualistic symbolic language; it is be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ietsism
Ietsism (, ) is an unspecified belief in an undetermined transcendent reality. It is a Dutch term for a range of beliefs held by people who, on the one hand, inwardly suspect – or indeed believe – that "there must be something undefined beyond the mundane which may or may not be possible to be known or proven", but on the other hand do not accept or subscribe to an established view of the nature of a deity offered by any particular religion. Some related terms in English are agnostic theism (though many ietsists do not accept – or have more subtle beliefs about – the conventional conception of "God", and therefore are characterized as agnostic atheists), advocates of eclecticism, the perennial philosophy, deists, or those who are spiritual but not religious. Ietsists might call themselves Christians or followers of another religion based on cultural identification with that religion, without believing the teachings of that particular religion. Etymo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fideism
Fideism ( ) is a standpoint or an epistemological theory which maintains that faith is independent of reason, or that reason and faith are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths (see natural theology). The word ''fideism'' comes from , the Latin word for faith, and literally means "faith-ism". Philosophers have identified a number of different forms of fideism. Strict fideists hold that reason has no place in discovering theological truths, while moderate fideists hold that though some truth can be known by reason, faith stands above reason. Theologians and philosophers have responded in various ways to the place of faith and reason in determining the truth of metaphysical ideas, morality, and religious beliefs. Historically, fideism is most commonly ascribed to four philosophers: Søren Kierkegaard, Blaise Pascal, William James, and Ludwig Wittgenstein; with fideism being a label applied in a negative sense by their opponents, but which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conceptions Of God
Conceptions of God in classical theist, monotheist, pantheist, and panentheist traditions – or of the supreme deity in henotheistic religions – can extend to various levels of abstraction: * as a powerful, personal, supernatural being, or as the deification of an esoteric, mystical or philosophical entity or category; * as the " Ultimate", the ''summum bonum'', the "Absolute Infinite", the " Transcendent", or Existence or Being itself; * as the ground of being, the monistic substrate, that which we cannot understand; and so on. The first recordings that survive of monotheistic conceptions of God, borne out of henotheism and (mostly in Eastern religions) monism, are from the Hellenistic period. Of the many objects and entities that religions and other belief systems across the ages have labeled as divine, the one criterion they share is their acknowledgment as divine by a group or groups of human beings. Hellenistic philosophy and religion Aristoteli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to personal limitations rather than a worldview. Another definition is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist." The English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley said that he originally coined the word ''agnostic'' in 1869 "to denote people who, like imself confess themselves to be hopelessly ignorant concerning a variety of matters ncluding the matter of God's existence about which metaphysicians and theologians, both orthodox and heterodox, dogmatise with the utmost confidence." Earlier thinkers had written works that promoted agnostic points of view, such as Sanjaya Belatthiputta, a 5th-century BCE Indian philosophe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weak Atheism
Negative atheism, also called weak atheism and soft atheism, is any type of atheism where a person does not believe in the existence of any deities but does not necessarily explicitly assert that there are none. Positive atheism, also called strong atheism and hard atheism, is the form of atheism that additionally asserts that no deities exist. The terms "negative atheism" and "positive atheism" were used by Antony Flew in 1976 and have appeared in George H. Smith'sAtheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies - an excerpt George H. Smith; 1990 and Michael Martin's writings since 1990. Scope of application Because of f ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Kurtz
Paul Kurtz (December 21, 1925 – October 20, 2012) was an American scientific skeptic and secular humanist. He has been called "the father of secular humanism". He was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, having previously also taught at Vassar, Trinity, and Union colleges, and the New School for Social Research. Kurtz founded the publishing house Prometheus Books in 1969. He was also the founder and past chairman of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI, formerly the ''Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal'', CSICOP), the Council for Secular Humanism, and the Center for Inquiry. He was editor in chief of ''Free Inquiry'' magazine, a publication of the Council for Secular Humanism. He was co-chair of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) from 1986 to 1994. He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Humanist Laureate, president of the International A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
