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Atheist conceptions of the idea of God often rest on a straw man fallacy that portrays a theistic view of God as Russell's teapot or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Both of these conceptions view God as an object which is easy to argue against.

These analogies of God as an object floating about in a gravitational field are weak, hence logical fallacies. They ignore theistic views of God as, at minimum, being omnipresent. A teapot or a monster is not omnipresent. Instead of viewing God as a teapot, a stronger analogy, more closely representing a theistic view, would be to see God as the gravitational field in which the teapot is moving, not as the teapot.

In other words, one can answer the question whether we can see God "through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin?" as "sure we can", if we view God as manifested through such fields. Admittedly there is more to a theistic view of God than these fields, but they come closer than the teapot does and one can make objective measurements of their effects.

So the question of the objective nature of God can be transformed into a question for the philosophy of science: Do fields actually exist? If fields exist, there is no reason not to grant to theism the definite possibility that God viewed as a super field may be real.

When Marc Lange addressed the question of electromagnetic fields in the philosophy of science, he noted that although most scientists take such fields for granted since without them one has to accept action at a distance, not all of them do. On page 42, Lange quoted a textbook on electromagnetic theory:

The assertion [of the field's reality], taken by itself apart from the quantitative force-law is scientifically otiose....It is merely the physically irrelevant statement of a metaphysical conviction....This is certainly not a legitimate physical theory at all; it is the confusion of metaphysical belief with metrical physics....

Whether one accepts this view of electromagnetic fields the author at least understood the potential metaphysical and theistic problem that accepting such concepts presented.

To summarize, consider the question:

Is it true that "X" exists in reality only when we are aware of having experienced it, or are aware of our potential of experiencing it through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin? In this regard, if no one has experienced "God", it means "God" doesn't and cannot exist; because, if "God" could have existed in reality, it would have already existed outside of our thoughts. Thus, "God" is merely an idea. Hence, this has to be the objective truth as everyone knows that they experience reality in the same way (i.e. through 5 sense organs).

 

How can this fact be wrong?

This can be refuted by noting that we experience field effects such as gravitation and light (electromagnetic field). Conceptions of God whether Platonic Forms, Plotinus' One, Judeo-Christo-Islamic or Hindu theisms could rest on this field concept although they have their own philosophical and theological origins.


"Flying Spaghetti Monster" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Lange, M. (2002). An Introduction to the philosophy of physics: Locality, fields, energy, and mass. Blackwell Publishing.

"Russell's teapot" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

"Straw man" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Atheist conceptions of the idea of God often rest on a straw man fallacy that portrays a theistic view of God as Russell's teapot or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Both of these conceptions view God as an object which is easy to argue against.

These analogies of God as an object floating about in a gravitational field are weak, hence logical fallacies. They ignore theistic views of God as, at minimum, being omnipresent. A teapot or a monster is not omnipresent. Instead of viewing God as a teapot, a stronger analogy, more closely representing a theistic view, would be to see God as the gravitational field in which the teapot is moving, not as the teapot.

In other words, one can answer the question whether we can see God "through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin?" as "sure we can", if we view God as manifested through such fields. Admittedly there is more to a theistic view of God than these fields, but they come closer than the teapot does and one can make objective measurements of their effects.

So the question of the objective nature of God can be transformed into a question for the philosophy of science: Do fields actually exist? If fields exist, there is no reason not to grant to theism the definite possibility that God viewed as a super field may be real.

When Marc Lange addressed the question of electromagnetic fields in the philosophy of science, he noted that although most scientists take such fields for granted since without them one has to accept action at a distance, not all of them do. On page 42, Lange quoted a textbook on electromagnetic theory:

The assertion [of the field's reality], taken by itself apart from the quantitative force-law is scientifically otiose....It is merely the physically irrelevant statement of a metaphysical conviction....This is certainly not a legitimate physical theory at all; it is the confusion of metaphysical belief with metrical physics....

Whether one accepts this view of electromagnetic fields the author at least understood the potential metaphysical and theistic problem that accepting such concepts presented.

To summarize, consider the question:

Is it true that "X" exists in reality only when we are aware of having experienced it, or are aware of our potential of experiencing it through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin? In this regard, if no one has experienced "God", it means "God" doesn't and cannot exist; because, if "God" could have existed in reality, it would have already existed outside of our thoughts. Thus, "God" is merely an idea. Hence, this has to be the objective truth as everyone knows that they experience reality in the same way (i.e. through 5 sense organs).

 

How can this fact be wrong?

This can be refuted by noting that we experience field effects such as gravitation and light (electromagnetic field). Conceptions of God whether Platonic Forms, Plotinus' One, Judeo-Christo-Islamic or Hindu theisms could rest on this field concept although they have their own philosophical and theological origins.


"Flying Spaghetti Monster" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Lange, M. (2002). An Introduction to the philosophy of physics: Locality, fields, energy, and mass. Blackwell Publishing.

"Russell's teapot" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

"Straw man" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Atheist conceptions of the idea of God often rest on a straw man fallacy that portrays a theistic view of God as Russell's teapot or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Both of these conceptions view God as an object which is easy to argue against.

These analogies of God as an object floating about in a gravitational field are weak, hence logical fallacies. They ignore theistic views of God as, at minimum, being omnipresent. A teapot or a monster is not omnipresent. Instead of viewing God as a teapot, a stronger analogy, more closely representing a theistic view, would be to see God as the gravitational field in which the teapot is moving, not as the teapot.

In other words, one can answer the question whether we can see God "through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin?" as "sure we can", if we view God as manifested through such fields. Admittedly there is more to a theistic view of God than these fields, but they come closer than the teapot does and one can make objective measurements of their effects.

So the question of the objective nature of God can be transformed into a question for the philosophy of science: Do fields actually exist? If fields exist, there is no reason not to grant to theism the definite possibility that God viewed as a super field may be real.

When Marc Lange addressed the question of electromagnetic fields in the philosophy of science, he noted that although most scientists take such fields for granted since without them one has to accept action at a distance, not all of them do. On page 42, Lange quoted a textbook on electromagnetic theory:

The assertion [of the field's reality], taken by itself apart from the quantitative force-law is scientifically otiose....It is merely the physically irrelevant statement of a metaphysical conviction....This is certainly not a legitimate physical theory at all; it is the confusion of metaphysical belief with metrical physics....

Whether one accepts this view of electromagnetic fields the author at least understood the potential metaphysical and theistic problem that accepting such concepts presented.

To summarize, consider the question:

Is it true that "X" exists in reality only when we are aware of having experienced it, or are aware of our potential of experiencing it through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin? In this regard, if no one has experienced "God", it means "God" doesn't and cannot exist; because, if "God" could have existed in reality, it would have already existed outside of our thoughts. Thus, "God" is merely an idea. Hence, this has to be the objective truth as everyone knows that they experience reality in the same way (i.e. through 5 sense organs).

How can this fact be wrong?

This can be refuted by noting that we experience field effects such as gravitation and light (electromagnetic field). Conceptions of God whether Platonic Forms, Plotinus' One, Judeo-Christo-Islamic or Hindu theisms could rest on this field concept although they have their own philosophical and theological origins.


"Flying Spaghetti Monster" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Lange, M. (2002). An Introduction to the philosophy of physics: Locality, fields, energy, and mass. Blackwell Publishing.

"Russell's teapot" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

"Straw man" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

clarification
Source Link
Frank Hubeny
  • 19.8k
  • 7
  • 32
  • 100

Atheist conceptions of the idea of God often rest on a straw man fallacy that portrays a theistic view of God as Russell's teapot or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Both of these conceptions view God as an object which is easy to argue against.

These analogies of God as an object floating about in a gravitational field are weak, hence logical fallacies. They ignore theistic views of God as, at minimum, being omnipresent. A teapot or a monster is not omnipresent. Instead of viewing God as a teapot, a stronger analogy, more closely representing a theistic view, would be to see God as the gravitational field in which the teapot is moving, not as the teapot.

In other words, one can answer the question whether we can see God "through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin?" as "sure we can", if we view God as manifested through such fields. Admittedly there is more to a theistic view of God than these fields, but they come closer than the teapot does and one can make objective measurements of their effects.

So the question of the objective nature of God can be transformed into a question for the philosophy of science: do fields actually exist?Do fields actually exist? If fields exist, there is no reason not to grant to theism the definite possibility that God viewed as a super field may be real.

When Marc Lange addressed the question of electromagnetic fields in the philosophy of science, he noted that although most scientists take such fields for granted since without them one has to accept action at a distance, not all of them do. On page 42, Lange quoted a textbook on electromagnetic theory:

The assertion [of the field's reality], taken by itself apart from the quantitative force-law is scientifically otiose....It is merely the physically irrelevant statement of a metaphysical conviction....This is certainly not a legitimate physical theory at all; it is the confusion of metaphysical belief with metrical physics....

Whether one accepts this view of electromagnetic fields the author at least understood the potential metaphysical and theistic problem that accepting such concepts presented.

To summarize, consider the question:

Is it true that "X" exists in reality only when we are aware of having experienced it, or are aware of our potential of experiencing it through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin? In this regard, if no one has experienced "God", it means "God" doesn't and cannot exist; because, if "God" could have existed in reality, it would have already existed outside of our thoughts. Thus, "God" is merely an idea. Hence, this has to be the objective truth as everyone knows that they experience reality in the same way (i.e. through 5 sense organs).

How can this fact be wrong?

This can be refuted by noting that we experience field effects such as gravitation and light (electromagnetic field). Conceptions of God whether Platonic Forms, Plotinus' One, Judeo-Christo-Islamic or Hindu theisms could rest on this field concept although they have their own philosophical and theological origins.


"Flying Spaghetti Monster" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Lange, M. (2002). An Introduction to the philosophy of physics: Locality, fields, energy, and mass. Blackwell Publishing.

"Russell's teapot" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

"Straw man" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Atheist conceptions of the idea of God often rest on a straw man fallacy that portrays a theistic view of God as Russell's teapot or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Both of these conceptions view God as an object which is easy to argue against.

These analogies of God as an object floating about in a gravitational field are weak, hence logical fallacies. They ignore theistic views of God as, at minimum, being omnipresent. A teapot or a monster is not omnipresent. Instead of viewing God as a teapot, a stronger analogy, more closely representing a theistic view, would be to see God as the gravitational field in which the teapot is moving, not as the teapot.

In other words, one can answer the question whether we can see God "through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin?" as "sure we can", if we view God as manifested through such fields. Admittedly there is more to a theistic view of God than these fields, but they come closer than the teapot does and one make objective measurements of their effects.

So the question of the objective nature of God can be transformed into a question for the philosophy of science: do fields actually exist? If fields exist, there is no reason not to grant to theism the definite possibility that God viewed as a super field may be real.

When Marc Lange addressed the question of electromagnetic fields in the philosophy of science, he noted that although most scientists take such fields for granted since without them one has to accept action at a distance, not all of them do. On page 42, Lange quoted a textbook on electromagnetic theory:

The assertion [of the field's reality], taken by itself apart from the quantitative force-law is scientifically otiose....It is merely the physically irrelevant statement of a metaphysical conviction....This is certainly not a legitimate physical theory at all; it is the confusion of metaphysical belief with metrical physics....

Whether one accepts this view of electromagnetic fields the author at least understood the potential metaphysical and theistic problem that accepting such concepts presented.

To summarize, consider the question:

Is it true that "X" exists in reality only when we are aware of having experienced it, or are aware of our potential of experiencing it through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin? In this regard, if no one has experienced "God", it means "God" doesn't and cannot exist; because, if "God" could have existed in reality, it would have already existed outside of our thoughts. Thus, "God" is merely an idea. Hence, this has to be the objective truth as everyone knows that they experience reality in the same way (i.e. through 5 sense organs).

How can this fact be wrong?

This can be refuted by noting that we experience field effects such as gravitation and light (electromagnetic field). Conceptions of God whether Platonic Forms, Plotinus' One, Judeo-Christo-Islamic or Hindu theisms could rest on this field concept although they have their own philosophical and theological origins.


"Flying Spaghetti Monster" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Lange, M. (2002). An Introduction to the philosophy of physics: Locality, fields, energy, and mass. Blackwell Publishing.

"Russell's teapot" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

"Straw man" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Atheist conceptions of the idea of God often rest on a straw man fallacy that portrays a theistic view of God as Russell's teapot or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Both of these conceptions view God as an object which is easy to argue against.

These analogies of God as an object floating about in a gravitational field are weak, hence logical fallacies. They ignore theistic views of God as, at minimum, being omnipresent. A teapot or a monster is not omnipresent. Instead of viewing God as a teapot, a stronger analogy, more closely representing a theistic view, would be to see God as the gravitational field in which the teapot is moving, not as the teapot.

In other words, one can answer the question whether we can see God "through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin?" as "sure we can", if we view God as manifested through such fields. Admittedly there is more to a theistic view of God than these fields, but they come closer than the teapot does and one can make objective measurements of their effects.

So the question of the objective nature of God can be transformed into a question for the philosophy of science: Do fields actually exist? If fields exist, there is no reason not to grant to theism the definite possibility that God viewed as a super field may be real.

When Marc Lange addressed the question of electromagnetic fields in the philosophy of science, he noted that although most scientists take such fields for granted since without them one has to accept action at a distance, not all of them do. On page 42, Lange quoted a textbook on electromagnetic theory:

The assertion [of the field's reality], taken by itself apart from the quantitative force-law is scientifically otiose....It is merely the physically irrelevant statement of a metaphysical conviction....This is certainly not a legitimate physical theory at all; it is the confusion of metaphysical belief with metrical physics....

Whether one accepts this view of electromagnetic fields the author at least understood the potential metaphysical and theistic problem that accepting such concepts presented.

To summarize, consider the question:

Is it true that "X" exists in reality only when we are aware of having experienced it, or are aware of our potential of experiencing it through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin? In this regard, if no one has experienced "God", it means "God" doesn't and cannot exist; because, if "God" could have existed in reality, it would have already existed outside of our thoughts. Thus, "God" is merely an idea. Hence, this has to be the objective truth as everyone knows that they experience reality in the same way (i.e. through 5 sense organs).

How can this fact be wrong?

This can be refuted by noting that we experience field effects such as gravitation and light (electromagnetic field). Conceptions of God whether Platonic Forms, Plotinus' One, Judeo-Christo-Islamic or Hindu theisms could rest on this field concept although they have their own philosophical and theological origins.


"Flying Spaghetti Monster" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Lange, M. (2002). An Introduction to the philosophy of physics: Locality, fields, energy, and mass. Blackwell Publishing.

"Russell's teapot" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

"Straw man" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

Source Link
Frank Hubeny
  • 19.8k
  • 7
  • 32
  • 100

Atheist conceptions of the idea of God often rest on a straw man fallacy that portrays a theistic view of God as Russell's teapot or as the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Both of these conceptions view God as an object which is easy to argue against.

These analogies of God as an object floating about in a gravitational field are weak, hence logical fallacies. They ignore theistic views of God as, at minimum, being omnipresent. A teapot or a monster is not omnipresent. Instead of viewing God as a teapot, a stronger analogy, more closely representing a theistic view, would be to see God as the gravitational field in which the teapot is moving, not as the teapot.

In other words, one can answer the question whether we can see God "through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin?" as "sure we can", if we view God as manifested through such fields. Admittedly there is more to a theistic view of God than these fields, but they come closer than the teapot does and one make objective measurements of their effects.

So the question of the objective nature of God can be transformed into a question for the philosophy of science: do fields actually exist? If fields exist, there is no reason not to grant to theism the definite possibility that God viewed as a super field may be real.

When Marc Lange addressed the question of electromagnetic fields in the philosophy of science, he noted that although most scientists take such fields for granted since without them one has to accept action at a distance, not all of them do. On page 42, Lange quoted a textbook on electromagnetic theory:

The assertion [of the field's reality], taken by itself apart from the quantitative force-law is scientifically otiose....It is merely the physically irrelevant statement of a metaphysical conviction....This is certainly not a legitimate physical theory at all; it is the confusion of metaphysical belief with metrical physics....

Whether one accepts this view of electromagnetic fields the author at least understood the potential metaphysical and theistic problem that accepting such concepts presented.

To summarize, consider the question:

Is it true that "X" exists in reality only when we are aware of having experienced it, or are aware of our potential of experiencing it through our five sense organs, namely - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin? In this regard, if no one has experienced "God", it means "God" doesn't and cannot exist; because, if "God" could have existed in reality, it would have already existed outside of our thoughts. Thus, "God" is merely an idea. Hence, this has to be the objective truth as everyone knows that they experience reality in the same way (i.e. through 5 sense organs).

How can this fact be wrong?

This can be refuted by noting that we experience field effects such as gravitation and light (electromagnetic field). Conceptions of God whether Platonic Forms, Plotinus' One, Judeo-Christo-Islamic or Hindu theisms could rest on this field concept although they have their own philosophical and theological origins.


"Flying Spaghetti Monster" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

Lange, M. (2002). An Introduction to the philosophy of physics: Locality, fields, energy, and mass. Blackwell Publishing.

"Russell's teapot" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_teapot

"Straw man" Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man