Questions for Daniel C. Dennett: The Nonbeliever

NY Times Magazine ^ | January 22, 2006 | Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON

[MineralMan]

"To be an atheist, you must be able to prove a "universal negative" - you would have to be in all places, at the same time, to prove that nowhere in the entire universe something exists. Biblically, this man is a fool - Psalm 14:1 "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no god.'""

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No, I don't. That's your demand. I do not claim that I can prove there are no deities or other supernatural entities. I merely say that I do not believe any such exist. Proving negatives like that is impossible.

I have the same amount of evidence that there are no deities as you have that there are: none. You believe there are such things. I do not. It's that simple. You're welcome to your belief.

[DarkSavant]

Well said.

If it's biological, does that make it any less real? Are we going to suddenly say Green doesn't exist because we can only see it through sight(i,e, a biological function)?

He's saying nothing that hasn't been argued since the Greeks, probably earlier, yet everyone treats it likes it's some sort of revelation. This is really why I think more scientists should at least try to understand philosphy, as many Religious philosophers, from Catholic Monks to Hindus, have already tackled this, and he brings nothing new to the table.

[Dumb_Ox]

The scientist is always a leftover of his own theory. If science "explains away" religion, it also explains away science, and indeed the scientist himself.

To digress into the sociology of science: Why are Dennett and Dawkins so popular? How did Carl Sagan get his spotlight? Dawkins was endowed by a Microsoft Billionaire, I know.

[SunkenCiv]

Eric Hoffer Quotes
Collected by John Petrie

The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.

Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.

[SunkenCiv]

They toe the party line (whatever it is at the moment), don't have original ideas of their own, and are intensely political.

[Pharmboy]

Those are good, SC...we all need our demons, I s'pose.

[ghost of nixon]

Neither belong in a science classroom

..but Dennett is using science and arguing for a "scientific" (materialistic) conclusion. That should qualify it for the classroom.

[Ray Martinez]

DENNETT: "Certainly the idea of a God that can answer prayers and whom you can talk to, and who intervenes in the world - that's a hopeless idea. There is no such thing."

Could one expect an atheist to say or believe anything else ?

Because they are not having the relationship = God does not exist. Dennett is a loser who couldn't make it with God.

"Darwinism is a penalty from God for denying Him Creator credit" Dr. Gene Scott, Ph.D. Stanford University

Ray Martinez