Philosophy
We have already dealt with some logical fallacies and you know how to classify them. Logical fallacies are often used in advertisement and politics but are even more explicit when it comes to religious debates. ?Does God exist?? is one of the oldest philosophical questions, and to many the most important one. You have probably heard at least one argument starting with: ?If God exists, then why?? or ?If God is A, then why does B happen??. It should be made clear that a huge number of these arguments are invalid and should be classified as logical fallacies. Nevertheless those who are not familiar with rules of constructing valid arguments (what is validity?) may not notice that many arguments against God?s existence are flawed and may even find them quite convincing. If you want to know what the most popular invalid arguments and their flaws are, here is the list of 5 false arguments stating that God does not exist with a brief explanation of their flaws. Some of these arguments refer strictly to the Christian God and are therefore explained in terms of Christianity.
5. Bible (or Old Testament) resembles legends, so it should be treated as one.
This is another informal fallacy ? false analogy (also known as weak analogy). A is like B. B has property C. Therefore, A has property C, where A=Bible, B=legend, C=unreliable.
- On Weakman Arguments
Great article over at Scientific American Mind by Yvonne Raley and Bob Talisse called "Getting Duped." In it they play with a question I've broached here in slightly different terms in the past. They look at a variant of the strawman fallacy wherein...
- Valid Arguments Vs. Sound Arguments
Validity and soundness are one of the most important terms in logic. How to distinguish between deductively valid and invalid arguments as well as between sound and unsound arguments? The definition is very much straightforward and it is all that is needed...
- Logical Fallacies Examples ? Appeal To Novelty And Age
As always let's begin with a simple definition. A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning which usually relies on a wrong assumption made in the argument. Appeal to emotion is one of the most popular types of logical fallacies ? examples of these...
- Tribute To Christopher Hitchens
Widely considered to be one of the Four Horsemen of Atheism, Christopher Hitchens is an intellectual hero to many agnostics, skeptics and nonbelievers. I greatly admire the man's intelligence, erudition, candor, humor and eloquence, but I have to...
- Bill O'reilly's Logical Blunders
It's difficult to overstate the importance of the skills associated with critical thinking. Obviously, you want to have the ability and the know-how to recognize and evaluate the quality of arguments and the evidence provided to support them fairly,...
Philosophy
5 invalid arguments that God does not exist
We have already dealt with some logical fallacies and you know how to classify them. Logical fallacies are often used in advertisement and politics but are even more explicit when it comes to religious debates. ?Does God exist?? is one of the oldest philosophical questions, and to many the most important one. You have probably heard at least one argument starting with: ?If God exists, then why?? or ?If God is A, then why does B happen??. It should be made clear that a huge number of these arguments are invalid and should be classified as logical fallacies. Nevertheless those who are not familiar with rules of constructing valid arguments (what is validity?) may not notice that many arguments against God?s existence are flawed and may even find them quite convincing. If you want to know what the most popular invalid arguments and their flaws are, here is the list of 5 false arguments stating that God does not exist with a brief explanation of their flaws. Some of these arguments refer strictly to the Christian God and are therefore explained in terms of Christianity.1. If God were good, children would not be starving.
According to Christianity and Judaism people did not starve back in the Garden of Eden and hunger is a result of Adam?s and Eve?s sin. Could God miraculously create food for starving children? He could (omnipotence dogma). However, according to Bible, God granted people with free will and responsibility. Is God really responsible for children starving? If you have a computer to read this blog, you are among the richest 1% of our globe. Why do people blame God for injustice rather than themselves? We do have enough financial resources to terminate famine among children. If you killed your neighbour, who would you blame? Yourself or God? From a less theological and more philosophical point of view, this is an example of Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. (A occurred, then B occurred. Therefore, A caused B).
2. If God existed, He would fill this room with balloons if you asked Him to do so.
This argument?s aim is to question God?s omnipotence while not taking into account God?s sovereignty. While God is omnipotent, He is also sovereign and may or may not fulfil wishes of His creation.
3. If God existed, you would not sin.
This is just an example of Ad personam fallacy (Ad hominem). It attacks a person rather than his or her point of view. In short ? a case of informal fallacy (irrelevance).
4. If God existed, there would be some well documented miracles.
It may be difficult to precisely define a miracle. What is a miracle to some, is just a coincidence to others. If a person suffers from a headache and after a prayer feels no more pain, can we claim to witness a miracle? Most believers would call it a miracle, scientists may treat is as a coincidence or an example of suggestion which can be also induced via hypnosis. What if a person suffers from cancer and after a prayer, doctors find him/her to have no cancer cells in the body? Believers will call it a miracle, doctors may be sceptical and explain it in terms of a wrong diagnosis. What if a person is dead and after a prayer he comes back to life? That?s a more complex issue, especially if a person was dead for a few days, and probably most people would perceive it as a miracle as it cannot possibly be explained by science. I will not go into details of miracles in this post, but all of the above mentioned phenomena are true and documented cases.
5. Bible (or Old Testament) resembles legends, so it should be treated as one.
This is another informal fallacy ? false analogy (also known as weak analogy). A is like B. B has property C. Therefore, A has property C, where A=Bible, B=legend, C=unreliable.
As most ?5 things lists?, this list is obviously incomplete and includes only some of the most popular flawed arguments stating that God does not exist. Once you have learnt how to recognise logical fallacies by yourself you will be able to detect flawed arguments without help of any lists whatsoever. Please note that this post does not argue either for or against God?s existence ? it only explains why these specific arguments against God?s existence are flawed. Feel free to leave a comment and like our Facebook page!
- On Weakman Arguments
Great article over at Scientific American Mind by Yvonne Raley and Bob Talisse called "Getting Duped." In it they play with a question I've broached here in slightly different terms in the past. They look at a variant of the strawman fallacy wherein...
- Valid Arguments Vs. Sound Arguments
Validity and soundness are one of the most important terms in logic. How to distinguish between deductively valid and invalid arguments as well as between sound and unsound arguments? The definition is very much straightforward and it is all that is needed...
- Logical Fallacies Examples ? Appeal To Novelty And Age
As always let's begin with a simple definition. A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning which usually relies on a wrong assumption made in the argument. Appeal to emotion is one of the most popular types of logical fallacies ? examples of these...
- Tribute To Christopher Hitchens
Widely considered to be one of the Four Horsemen of Atheism, Christopher Hitchens is an intellectual hero to many agnostics, skeptics and nonbelievers. I greatly admire the man's intelligence, erudition, candor, humor and eloquence, but I have to...
- Bill O'reilly's Logical Blunders
It's difficult to overstate the importance of the skills associated with critical thinking. Obviously, you want to have the ability and the know-how to recognize and evaluate the quality of arguments and the evidence provided to support them fairly,...