Author:
Wade A. Tisthammer
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Date Posted: 04/15/02 1:11pm
In reply to:
Ben
's message, "How do you solve a problem like the God-a?" on 04/ 1/02 8:02pm
Ben, I have a request. In our discussions, I would appreciate it if you elucidated on why you think I am wrong on a set of reasoning, an evidental argument etc. rather than just flat out saying, “you are wrong on this issue,” without giving any explanation for such a claim. As I participate in this forum, I would like to understand the other side of the issues. But I can hardly do that if the other sides do not offer any explanations for their claims and positions.
>No offense, but I can't go off into this logical
>expedition with you. If you want to discuss things
>the way we have been, I will try to participate when I
>can, but speaking in symbols is just not conducive to
>the way I think. Plus, I honestly think that once you
>put all these very complex concepts into simple
>symbolic language, you lose a lot, and yes, of course
>you can prove or disprove various things such as God's
>existence. When I asked you to explain why God is
>there, I didn't mean for you to give me a course in
>logic symbols.
Why think that I have lost anything in the argument? What have I lost? The argument essentially does this: take the bottom two premises,
- If God (the greatest possible being) exists, then he exists necessarily.
- It is possible for God to exist.
And come to the conclusion:
I suppose I could summarize a way of explaining why the conclusion logically follows in words, but the argument would not be proved valid. By using a formal proof, I can prove that the argument is valid. That’s why I used artificial language.
>Obviously, I was trying to make the point that if God
>really is there, there _is_ no "why," and your logical
>journey doesn't come any closer to giving a true
>answer to that question.
How so? You asked, why, and I gave a possible response. Why does God exist? Because he exists necessarily. Why does God exist necessarily? That’s what the formal proof was all about. If you don’t think my explanation was sound, fine. But I would appreciate you telling me why this is the case, instead of saying, “your logical journey doesn't come any closer to giving a true answer to that question,” without giving any explanation whatsoever on why this is the case. Where exactly did my reasoning break down when I answered your questions?
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