Faith Isn't Knowledge...Nor Should It Be

[Copernicus]

Referring mostly to your other post quoting mine, I don't see how a lack of something can inform you about anything, unless you also stipulate that faith actually is also informing you. I don't see how a 'lack of faith' can focus on anything because it is the absence of something (state of being, point of view, whatever).

Theistic religions tend to preach that morality is informed by the authority of a god. So theists quite often jump to the conclusion that atheism leads to amoral behavior. But lack of faith in gods, forces one to have a different grounding for one's sense of "good" and "bad" behavior. It cannot be the authority of a god. In most cases, that grounding is in humanitarian principles, but not always. Communist atheists, for example, might see morality as grounded in the authority of the Party. But you are right that there is no moral doctrine inherent in atheism any more than there is a moral doctrine inherent in theism. It is just that theists and atheists address the question of morality from different bases.

 

[lunamoth]

It is just that theists and atheists address the question of morality from different bases.

I would bet that 0.9 and I have very similar moral bases (grounds for what we view as moral chioces).

 

[Copernicus]

I would bet that 0.9 and I have very similar moral bases (grounds for what we view as moral chioces).

Why would I want to wager you on that? You aren't exactly a conventional theist, if a theist at all.

 

[lunamoth]

Why would I want to wager you on that? You aren't exactly a conventional theist, if a theist at all.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Referring mostly to your other post quoting mine, I don't see how a lack of something can inform you about anything, unless you also stipulate that faith actually is also informing you. I don't see how a 'lack of faith' can focus on anything because it is the absence of something (state of being, point of view, whatever).

A lack of faith can inform a lack of confidence, such as my lack of confidence that there's some invisible, intelligent force trying to make the universe a better place. This informs my conclusion that if I want the universe to be a better place, I'd better get on the task myself.

... that or a lack of confidence that "I" will survive the death of my physical body, which informs my conclusion that I shouldn't waste the time I have.

I hardly think you can make that conclusion logically. :sarcastic At the most you can say that you believe faith is irrelevant to your life, but then to make that statement logically you'd have to compare 0.9 penguin with faith to 0.9 without faith.

Even if we found that 0.9 without faith really is a better person that 0.9 with faith, you can't extend your conclusion to luna with or without faith.

I don't know about that. We're both people, so presumably (hopefully) we share some commonality of experience. At the very least, together, we're a statistical sample that can be used to make inferences... and while a sample size of two would have a very large variance, it's still much more likely to be reflective of the "big picture" than a sample size of one.

 

[lunamoth]

I don't know about that. We're both people, so presumably (hopefully) we share some commonality of experience. At the very least, together, we're a statistical sample (albeit one with a very large variance) that can be used to make inferences.

But there are more than just two possible inferences - that faith makes a difference or it is irrelevant. It could be that it makes a difference for some and not for others, or it makes a difference to both whether or not one acknowledges it. I'm sure we could come up with other variations on the theme.

And, inferences are not worth much without further substantiation.

 

[839311]

we're a statistical sample that can be used to make inferences... and while a sample size of two would have a very large variance, it's still much more likely to be reflective of the "big picture" than a sample size of one.

I hope that while this particular statistical sample can be used to make inferences it won't be haha. From what I know a sample size of 30 is generally the minimum. But yes, I agree that a sample size of two is more reflective of the big picture, assuming that both people don't hold the same opinion lol.