Quote:
sethhersch wrote
Hey there all.
Two years ago I had a premonition that I would end up a Christian. It seemed in many ways counterintuitive that I should know the intellectual end without being apprised of the means, and every day since has been an interesting attempt to answer some really fundamental questions. It's not often that an epistemologist is faced with trying to reconcile premonitions with plausible substantive epistemic accounts -- it's also not that easy. But it is proving to be fruitful. I wonder what place other propositional attitudes have in epistemology?
I am here because I can't get good [or honest] debate edgewise out of most theists. Many are just too afraid of the repercussion of placing their religious beliefs under scrutiny. I wonder what the value is of a belief that hasn't been given such a trial...It's really too bad that we proponents of philosophy don't have the same bargaining chip -- "You must believe in the Uniformity of Nature thesis or you will be summarily relegated to the corner for eternity, wearing only a dunce cap..."
I am NOT here to end up a misquoted, poorly characterized punching dummy. Please take exception only with what I say, not what you think I am. It ought to be in virtue of the arguments used that debates are won or lost.
Thanks for reading, and I trust I will be put to the fire to really defend the things I think are true, and I relish the opportunity that awaits to discover those parts of my web of beliefs that are inconsistent. If I don't tease them out now, I may never do so.
-Seth
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Welcome. A good start might be a statement of what your beliefs are. If they are only beliefs and have no substantive basis, how can you defend them? If they do have a basis in fact, why not call them knowledge?
I realize it is redundant to say so, but, given human brain electro-chemistry, your premonition could as easily have been that you would soon become a giraffe. You would have labeled it "only a dream" and gone on with your life, so why pick on this particular dream to take seriously?