A weighted bet is still a leap of faith. You're an agnostic, you just don't want to be lumped in with the questioning christians.
I can create an experiment to test the statement "I went to the beach last week", therefore, I can have knowledge of that. I can't do so for "there is no god", therefore I can't have knowledge of that, so to state that as a position is a belief.
You're using the cogito argument to prove the existence of your self, but that works for religious revelation. Plenty of people have spoken directly to god; I'm comfortable to call them deluded, but if you're using cogito to prove your self then you have to face up to the fact that you might be experiencing a delusion (brain in a vat and all that).
Personally, I'll take a social constructivist proof of my own existence (other people believe I exist, therefore I exist), but that's fraught with problems as well, but at least I can take a photo of me and have people agree that it's me, I can't do that with my consciousness.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2014-07-08 01:45 pm (UTC)I can create an experiment to test the statement "I went to the beach last week", therefore, I can have knowledge of that. I can't do so for "there is no god", therefore I can't have knowledge of that, so to state that as a position is a belief.
You're using the cogito argument to prove the existence of your self, but that works for religious revelation. Plenty of people have spoken directly to god; I'm comfortable to call them deluded, but if you're using cogito to prove your self then you have to face up to the fact that you might be experiencing a delusion (brain in a vat and all that).
Personally, I'll take a social constructivist proof of my own existence (other people believe I exist, therefore I exist), but that's fraught with problems as well, but at least I can take a photo of me and have people agree that it's me, I can't do that with my consciousness.