12 May 06
Originally posted by DoctorScribblesSome questions:
Which people most commonly exhibit skeptical thinking when evaluating their beliefs: theists or atheists?
Aren't atheist, atheists due to skepticism? What else could justify atheism?
A belief based on faith can it ever be positively evaluated by skeptical thinking?
12 May 06
5 edits
Originally posted by PalynkaLOL. Of course not. I think you are confused about skepticism.
Some questions:
Aren't atheist, atheists due to skepticism?
Skepticism is characterized by maintaining doubt and withholding belief in the face of the weight of the evidence, based on the idea that we can't be sure of the evidence to begin with, and even if we could, we can't be sure that it positively indicates the conclusion in question.
Skepticism is not characterized by requiring a weight of evidence as justification for belief. Nor is skepticism characterized by mere doubt. Nor is skepticism characterized by asking for evidence in support of a claim. Nor is skepticism characterized by doubting a claim that has some evidence in favor of it.
The atheist doubts the theist's claim, not on the grounds that he can't be sure of the theist's evidence, nor on the grounds that he can't be sure that the theist's evidence implies the theist's conlcusion. Rather, he doubts the theist's claim on the grounds that he has assessed that the weight of the evidence lies in favor of rejecting the theist's claim. Thus, atheism does not entail skepticism.
The atheist doesn't doubt the theist's claim merely because it is possible that the claim is false; he doubts it because he has assessed it to be more likely false than true based on the evidece.
A skeptic doubts a claim merely on the grounds that the claim could possibly be false.