[lbo-talk] Appeal to Ignorance (Rushdie: Just give me that old-time atheism!)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>[lbo-talk] Rushdie: Just give me that old-time atheism!
>farmelantj at juno.com farmelantj at juno.com
>Mon May 30 08:47:08 PDT 2005
<snip>
>>Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 08:33:21 -0700
>>From: Jim Devine <jdevine03 at gmail.com>
<snip>
>>We have to admit that it's only a working hypothesis that 
>>supernatural beings don't exist. It's a working hypothesis that's 
>>worked pretty well over the years.
>
>I find Jim Devine's argument to be somewhat confused. When an 
>atheist says that she disbelieves in the existence of God, this 
>isn't much different than if Jim Devine were to assert that he 
>disbelieves in the existence of Zeus, Thor, or the Invisible Pink 
>Unicorn.  Given the lack of evidence for the existence of any of 
>these entities, we are entitled (invoking Ockam's Razor) to 
>disbelieve in their existence, even though we may not be able to 
>conclusively disprove the existence of these alleged beings. I know 
>of very few people who would say that they are agnostics concerning 
>the existence of the ancient Greek gods.


>[lbo-talk] Rushdie: Just give me that old-time atheism!
>Jim Devine jdevine03 at gmail.com
>Mon May 30 09:03:30 PDT 2005
<snip>
>Jim F. says:
>>I know of very few people who would say that they are agnostics 
>>concerning the existence of the ancient Greek gods.
>
>there's no evidence they exist(ed).  They could (have), however.

Jim Devine commits a divine logical fallacy here called "Appeal to 
Ignorance: <http://www.fallacyfiles.org/ignorant.html>.  The burden 
of proof is on those who make an improbable claim, such as "God 
exists," "gods exist," or "I have a herbal remedy that makes your 
penis three inches longer and thicker."  Those who fall for an 
improbable claim, merely because there is no evidence yet that the 
claim is untrue, are called "suckers."  They are the ones who fuel 
the economy of spam.  :->
-- 
Yoshie

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