Atheism Debate Guide
From PhiloWiki
Each atheist has his or her own individual view about the existence of the universe, a view that they develop over their own unique lifetime of experience. The one thing that unites all atheists is that they do not believe in the existence of any God or gods.
Atheists do not see how the concept of a loving and caring God is necessary to explain the universe. The myths contained in ancient religious scriptures do not convince them. They generally choose to restrict their beliefs to only what can be demonstrated using scientific methods, rather than having blind faith in something told to them by someone else whose credibility is questionable.
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Atheistic arguments
- What is Occam's Razor ? How does it apply to the issue of the existence of gods ?
- Since he believes that the universe was created by God's will, is the Christian justified in his belief in objectivity ? Why or why not ?
- Can the Christian be confident that God will not make A be not-A, stop the Sun in its tracks, or interfere with his free will ? Why or why not ?
- Is the existence of God a valid hypothesis to explain the existence of natural features ? What are the criteria we need to follow to have a proper hypothesis ?
- Does the Good exist because God wills it, or does God acts in conformity to the idea of the Good ? What are the consequences of both alternatives ?
- Is it possible to reconcile the idea of "divine creation" of spacetime with the fact that all actions require time and space ?
- Is there a way to justify the uncaused nature of God that does not also apply to the universe ?
- Why is the accepted religion heavily dependent on geography ? Is this a pattern correlated with science and technology, or with pseudo-science and mythology ?
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Epistemic outlook
- Does atheism necessarily lead to naturalism and materialism ?
- Does atheism necessarily lead to epistemic anxiety ?
- Is skepticism healthy ?
- Is there a functional difference between "weak atheism" (lack of belief in gods) and "strong atheism" (the propositions that gods do not exist) ?
- Is it possible to distinguish a miracle from unusual natural agency ?
- Is it possible to establish the validity of "religious epistemologies" independently of empiricism and reason ?
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Arguing theology
- Some theologians try to answer to the lack of evidence for miracles by claiming that God acts within natural law. But can we differentiate such action from no action at all?
- Theologians argue that our only moral alternatives are either divine revelation or relativism. Are they right? Are there virtues that are logically justifiable (such as honesty, benevolence or rationality)?
- How can one argue for induction from a secular perspective?
- What is knowledge? How do we know things? Compare your answer with religious epistemologies (such as inspired doctrine, divine revelation, personal experience).
- What is Intelligent Design? Is it scientific? Is it philosophically sound?
