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Azim also asked:
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I would like to know with the incorporation of latest philosophical reasoning which position (theism,
agnosticism, atheism,etc) as regards a god is logically sound or which a rational mind will go for!
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============
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The problem with asking for 'the latest philosophical reasoning' on any particular question is that the
latest thinking will include people who support a number of different answers to the question. It is very
different from the latest (say) scientific thinking on an issue, which will often be narrowing down to a
particular answer. So, there are people who would argue quite persuasively for each of the positions
you mention. You would need to read them yourself and think about which one sounds right to you.
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All the answers that these various people give would be logically valid, because any decent
philosopher ought to be able to construct an argument which does not break logical rules. But to be
logically sound, it must use this logic on true premises, and people disagree about which statements
are true.
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Similarly, I don't think that we can judge rationality by what conclusions we come to. Rationality is
more about the process of dealing with thoughts, beliefs and values. What outcome we come to in
our deliberations depends in part on the premises and values from which we start. I cannot see that
rationality always forces us to a single conclusion. In some (quite a few) questions it does, but in
many others it can only help us separate some better from worse answers, but not to decide which is
the 'best'. It is a bit like judging music — while we can separate out good from not-so-good music,
who would ever say we can find the best? That's what I think the god question is like. [I guess this is
an argument for agnosticism, isn't it!]
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Tim Sprod
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