tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post555458701483831644..comments2024-03-02T00:44:55.128-08:00Comments on Pleiotropy: Michael Egnor's questions for New AtheistsBjørn Østmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-39906604030059803052010-10-23T11:54:13.811-07:002010-10-23T11:54:13.811-07:00The comments to Larry's post has more answers....<a href="http://sandwalk.blogspot.com/2010/10/quiz-for-atheists-from-creationist.html" rel="nofollow">The comments to Larry's post has more answers</a>.Bjørn Østmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-55712524083170274152010-10-23T05:50:42.091-07:002010-10-23T05:50:42.091-07:001) Why is there anything?
The only thing we ever ...1) Why is there anything?<br /><br />The only thing we ever experienced is something, we never experienced "nothingness", so why do you think nothingness exists in the first place, and why should that be an alternative to anything? My answer: being anything is the only possible way something can be.<br /><br />2) What caused the Universe?<br />For once: Only within our universe we observe causality, obviously before the existence of the universe, we don't know if causality applies, hence I can't even start to think of an answer, if at all one is needed. Since this answer would be about something out of our context.<br /><br />3) Why is there regularity (Law) in nature?<br /><br />Is there? I am joking, but I could give exaclty the same answer I gave in 1, we never observed the absence of laws, so it is entirely possible that existence comes with laws, in fact I think laws are the cause of existence.<br /><br />4) Of the Four Causes in nature proposed by Aristotle (material, formal, efficient, and final), which of them are real? Do final causes exist?<br /><br />Aristotle invented them at some point in history, simply out of his head. I don't believe in interpreting other peoples phantasies, I am sorry, but you could have asked about what your nightmares mean, they are as unsubstantiated as that. Still I can comment on the concept of purpuse: I think we are entirely out of purpuse whatsoever, and nothing "really" matters. Which absolutely does not imply that I think we have "meaningless" lives, since I also think, subjetivity matters at least to the subject, and I can respect that. As well as I demand that my subjectivity is real, and deserves respect. That said, I am happy with all of us having tolleratable/agreeable purpuses, that we should all pursue, nevertheless I don't think it will lead to something final or meaningfull in an objective sense.<br /><br />5) Why do we have subjective experience, and not merely objective existence?<br />We have objective existence, cogito ergo sum is the essence of that. The problem is that we are unable to reliable communicate this existence to anyone else or to proof someone elses existence to us and vice versa... the subjective experience is a result of our complex interactions of neurons.<br /><br />6) Why is the human mind intentional, in the technical philosophical sense of aboutness, which is the referral to something besides itself? How can mental states be about something? <br /><br />A state that only has information about itself does not contain any general predictive value, but in order to work in our world we need to be predictive about things we are not. Thus we are intentional and about things besides ourselves. <br /><br />7) Does Moral Law exist in itself, or is it an artifact of nature (natural selection, etc.)<br /><br />Surely an artifact of perception, IMO all moral is subjective. How could something objective have an opinion about itself. That simply doesn't work, because again: information must be about something, and being objective means being everything, and once you are everything, you can not have info about something else. The whole concept of "objective" and moral doesn't go together in the first place...<br /><br />8) Why is there evil?<br />I would like to see a good definition of evil. But since I already said that there is no objective moral, there is also no objective evil. Still one subject interprets some other action as evil, mostly when it is a disadvantage to itself. That we call evil, and thus evil is a consequence of circumstance, and as such the consequence of laws...<br /><br />Nice questions :)<br /><br />Cheers ArendDr. Arend Hintzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01939871283783922116noreply@blogger.com