Louis
Posts: 6436
Joined: Jan. 2006
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| Quote (Amadan @ Feb. 28 2008,09:49) | | In the end it comes down to epistemology: are you prepared to count as true or factual a statement that is, on the available evidence, incapable of being falsified? If so, you are making an exception to the general rule of human conduct and discourse, and in my opinion you shift the burden of justification onto yourself. |
Bingo!
It is an epistemological issue, and one that theists and believers of all stripes love to play fast and lose with. Personally I find it extremely hypocritical because in effect what they are doing is claiming one epoistemology is valid for their articles of faith and another is valid for the world around them. They preach the former but act on the latter.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, believers want all the benefits of reason but none of the consequences they find unpleasant. You can see the same attitude at work in reference to their holy scriptures with the "God says X but what I think he meant was Y" interpretational shennanigans.
"Miracles" are a great example of this. The variety of what a specific "miracle" "means" to various groups is enormous. Each insists it has the right "meaning". The question of how and why the claim this knowledge is an important epistemological question, the implicit claims it makes have consequences.
Louis
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Bye.
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