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IS SCIENCE INCONSISTENT WITH NATURALISM?

8/27/2019

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In “The Explanatory Emptiness of Naturalism” (another essay in Gilson & Weitnauer's anthology True Reason, which I mentioned a couple of posts back), religious philosopher and “former atheist sociopath”* David Wood, argues that, in order for there to be science, naturalism must be false. There are various reasons why he claims this is the case. These include the usual suspects, such as that naturalism is inconsistent with our ability to reason and that it cannot account for the uniformity in nature which science requires. (I've previously covered these issues, or something closely related to them, and rather than repeating myself have placed links to them below.) 

Some of the other reasons he offers also involve common complaints against naturalism, but in ways that are odd in this context. For example, he argues that naturalism is incompatible with the existence of the universe, and from this concludes that under naturalism it would be impossible to practice science! (After all, there first has to be a world before anyone can be a scientist.) But notice how odd this argument is (in addition to being wrong). Arguing that naturalism is incompatible with science because it is inconsistent with the existence of everything is, at the very least, overkill. Why worry about naturalism's incompatibility with science if naturalism is inconsistent with so much more than that? 

The last reason Wood covers for why naturalism and science don't mix is what he calls the problem of value. Naturalism, he says, implies there are no objective values. This, of course, is specifically denied by ethical naturalists, which is something Wood fails to mention. (Like most apologists, he writes as if anyone who is a naturalist must not accept objective morality.) Nevertheless, an argument can be made that Wood is partially right here: No one has ever been able to give a good account of moral principles based on natural facts. However, nothing about the ability to do science follows from this. 

Wood tries to show that lack of objective values rules out science as it's currently practiced by pointing out that at least some science is pursued as an end in itself. That is, although science can be pursued as a means to other ends (e.g., to improve health or food production), much of it is done for its own sake. But that means it is done because scientific discovery is regarded as good in itself. And this, he tells us, cannot be, given naturalism. For on the naturalist view, nothing is objectively good, but only good according to someone or other. The crux of his argument is this: 

“If we seek scientific knowledge because we value knowledge as good in itself (not simply for its benefits), and naturalism holds that nothing is good in itself, then naturalism will always undermine science” (p. 119). 

Wood's essay and the others printed in this book are attempts to show that it is Christian thinkers, and not atheists, who have reason on their side. And yet they contain arguments like the above. The equivocation in Wood's statement is so obvious that it could be used as an example of a fallacy in logic class. 

There are two distinct meanings of “good in itself” in the above passage. On the one hand, “good in itself” means that which is intrinsically, as opposed to instrumentally, good. In other words, that which is pursued as an end in itself as opposed to as a means to some other end. It is in this sense that some scientific knowledge is pursued only for its own sake, whereas other science is pursued with a more practical goal in mind. On the other hand, “good in itself” is used to mean objectively good (as opposed to the subjective sense in which something is considered good by some but not necessarily by others). Wood then conflates the two meanings. 

If there are no objective values, then the value that some of us put in knowledge itself is a subjective preference. We desire to know things. (Lots of other people couldn't care less, so they don't value such knowledge. That's their right.) There is no inconsistency at all in pursuing such knowledge while maintaining that it is not objectively valuable. The knowledge is regarded by us as valuable. It doesn't follow that it must be a fact, something everyone should acknowledge, that such knowledge is good. 


* Conservapedia 


Links: 

On an issue related to naturalism and reason: Stealing from God: Reason, Part 1 

On naturalism and the uniformity of nature: Presuppositionalism and Induction ​



[Originally published at Debunking Christianity]


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THE CLAIM THAT THERE ARE NO ATHEISTS

8/1/2019

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Instead of answering atheists' arguments, some believers just deny that there is such a thing as atheism. On their view, everyone knows that there is a God, and so-called atheists simply block out that fact because they don't want there to be someone who makes moral demands on them. (As everyone knows, we atheists just want to be able to do whatever we feel like, morality be damned — which explains why we are always robbing banks and torturing puppies.) But what reasons are there for thinking this is the case? Several have been suggested. 

One common argument states that no one can consistently live like an atheist. So-called atheists obey moral rules, for example, which they should have no reason to obey. For according to atheism, it is said, it is no better to be kind and help those in need than to be a serial rapist and murderer. Yet many so-called atheists speak out against injustices in the world, and in doing so reveal that they are not true heathens. 

There are two basic problems with this line of thinking. First, that it is based on a misconception. Atheism doesn't imply there is no morality. One can lack belief in God and still believe in moral principles — and even in moral truths. And for those of us who do not accept the idea of moral truth— those of us who view morality as ultimately based on preferences and desires — it remains the case that we have those preferences, which we therefore have an interest in promoting. And that is enough. 

The second problem is that, even if it were the case that atheists were being irrational in behaving morally, it wouldn't follow that they actually believe in God. It could just mean we are being irrational. So this argument cannot show that there are no atheists. 

Similarly, there is the presuppositional argument put forward by such apologists as Cornelius Van Til and Greg Bahnsen. They held that not only morality, but science and even logic presuppose the existence of God. Thus, whenever atheists make scientific claims or even present any reasons for their views, they must already believe in God. 

But again, not only is the claim that science and logic presuppose God false, even if it were true, it wouldn't prove that there are no atheists. Any atheist with logical and scientific views in that case would just be mistaken about their views not requiring the existence of God. They could nevertheless fail to believe in God. 

Rather than appealing to morality and rationality, some theists just say that God reveals himself to all directly, so that “deep down” everyone knows about him. But one problem with this argument is that no one has been able to point to any good evidence that this is the case. Any psychological evidence that everyone actually believes is at best shaky. Let's face it: it's just not easy to know what is going on in someone else's mind. 
(There are atheists who argue on similar grounds that there are no true believers, and I find their view equally unconvincing.) What's more, there is evidence against the claim — and quite a bit of it. There is the fact that lots of individuals spend much of their time arguing in favor of atheism, for example. The psychological case would therefore have to be extremely strong to counter this opposing evidence, and it certainly doesn't appear to be. In addition, if God does reveal himself, then presumably he reveals himself as the biblical God, according to Christians making this argument. But then how can one explain competing religions? Hindus and Buddhists would also have to be in rebellion against the Christian God, yet they impose all kinds of different moral demands on themselves. And on this view, that makes no sense. 

Finally, there is the view that God makes his existence evident by his creation of the world. As Romans 1:20 puts it, “his eternal power and divine nature... have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they [unbelievers] are without excuse.” But this is just a simplistic version of the design argument, an argument that has been refuted too many times to count. And even if the believer thinks that the argument holds up, the fact remains that it has been criticized by many — which implies that many of us do not think the world makes the existence of God evident. 

There is an additional problem here as well. If the existence of a creator were obvious from the creation, then for anyone rebelling, belief in a creator who makes no moral demands on us — like the god of deism — would be a better alternative than atheism. After all, the Christian must admit that, even if the existence of a creator is obvious, the existence of the Christian God specifically — and thus, of the moral obligations he imposes — are not (as, once again, the existence of many competing religions demonstrates). So why go to the extreme of denying the creator as opposed to simply denying those moral obligations? 

Not one of the common arguments for the non-existence of atheists is convincing in the least. 



[Originally published at Debunking Christianity]


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