British Athiest & Philosopher now believes in God

And, in the absence of any evidence or arguments, which aren't provided, their field of expertise. I mean he's fallen for what? Intelligent Design. Well, the old boy's past it, obviously, but apart from that, what's his profession?

A philosopher.

Yeah, they know a lot.

I mean, you remember that philosopher that made that really important philosophical discovery that changed our lives forever?

No? Me neither.
 
Dr Adequate said:
I mean, you remember that philosopher that made that really important philosophical discovery that changed our lives forever?
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It must have been a philosopher that invented dipnosophistry - the art of philosophising whilst eating.

That's a great invention. But it was more than 2000 years ago.
 
Dr Adequate said:
And, in the absence of any evidence or arguments, which aren't provided, their field of expertise. I mean he's fallen for what? Intelligent Design. Well, the old boy's past it, obviously, but apart from that, what's his profession?

A philosopher.

Yeah, they know a lot.
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Would you express those sentiments if Richard Swinburne converted to atheism?
 
Dr Adequate said:


I mean, you remember that philosopher that made that really important philosophical discovery that changed our lives forever?

No? Me neither.
Click to expand...

Do you imagine without philosophy we'd have our present technological culture, our political system? Nope, it would be like the middle ages and most probably you wouldn't be alive.

Please get a clue.
 
Sorry for starting up a duplicate thread...

I thought the article was interesting, not because I hold any great stock in Flew's opinion, but because of the reasons he gives for the turnaround.

For someone that has spent decades writing in support of athiesm, becoming even a Deist is a major turnaround. And his evidence? DNA is apparently too complex to have arrived at by a probabilistic process.

I guess he's lost faith in science to figure things out. Not so long ago it seemed impossible to have even discovered DNA.

And yes, Ian, thank Jeff that he's not become a 'regular' God-believer. That would be awful! Phew!
 
Interesting Ian said:
Would you express those sentiments if Richard Swinburne converted to atheism?
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People "convert sides" all the time. It does not change the whether or not God(s) actually exist.

I believe the concern is that theists will latch on to this as some sort of proof that God(s) actually exists, because he/she/it turned the heart of this curmudgeony old athiest. SF is bemoaning that there will be just that more BS to put up with.
 
Interesting Ian said:
Do you imagine without philosophy we'd have our present technological culture, our political system? Nope, it would be like the middle ages and most probably you wouldn't be alive.

Please get a clue.
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Well, that's an excellent method of not actually giving any examples while pretending there are lots. It must have fooled any eight-year old browsing these fora for at least five seconds.
 
Like Darat says. Everyone's entitled to their opinions and to change them. What would be interesting is the reasoning behind his change of opinion.

As for damage limitation, the existence or otherwise of God would not (presumably) change whether everyone or no-one believed in it and I don't think there are lot of people who are atheists or poised to convert who will now decide not to (not that it bothers me either way).
 
Articles about famous athiests who decide to believe in God are basically testimony. They are articles about someone who says they believe something, not "proof exists, here is a summary of what it is." You know what would be exciting? Evidence. Not people who convert to deism, but actual proof of God's existence. In the meantime, a million famous atheists could turn deist, and it won't prove a thing, other than deism is suddenly popular among former famous athiests. You could argue from popularity at that point, but I would advise you against a fallacy like that. But I guess some people will jump at the slightest indication that they might be right, instead of settling for actually being right.
 
It's my understanding that famous skeptic Martin Gardner is also a Deist.
 
Dr Adequate said:

I mean, you remember that philosopher that made that really important philosophical discovery that changed our lives forever?
Click to expand...

Actually I do. But it's not this guy. His name was "Socrates" or something, some Greek guy wrote about him. I think his name started with a "P." He discovered, oh, I don't know, critical thinking? Anyway, philosophy has the ability to change our lives forever because it can change the way we think. But that kind of philosophy is not the same as "in my opinion, God should exist (or should have existed)" which, judging by the articles, is what this guy is saying.
 
Some people just need to believe. Perhaps this man in the last years of his life decided to go ahead and let his need to believe outweigh logic and reason. If it makes him happy in his last years, more power to him.

I understand the need to believe. But that need has slowly been fading.
 
I mean, you remember that philosopher that made that really important philosophical discovery that changed our lives forever?
Click to expand...

In addition to "critical thinking", as mentioned above, may I also suggest Coordinate Plane Geometry (Descartes), Differential Calculus (Leibniz), Mathematical Logic (Frege/Russell/Godel/etc), SCIENCE (Aristotle and Bacon primarily), and underlying that, the idea that, hey, maybe it's a good idea to try explaining things in terms of simple principles and observed facts instead of, you know, Gods (Thales and onward).
 
I've never heard of Antony Flew. I've never heard of Richard Swinburne.

Not only do I have a lack of belief in god, I guess I have a lack of interest in worrying about it.

~~ Paul
 
Dr. A said:
I mean, you remember that philosopher that made that really important philosophical discovery that changed our lives forever?
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You got yourself in trouble here because the question is not worded specifically enough.
I mean, you remember that metaphysical philosopher that made that really important philosophical discovery that changed our lives forever?
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No.

~~ Paul
 
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