Re: methodological naturalism - origin of the term?

From: Howard J. Van Till (hvantill@chartermi.net)
Date: Thu Aug 28 2003 - 19:13:15 EDT

  • Next message: George Murphy: "Re: methodological naturalism - origin of the term?"

    >From: George Murphy <gmurphy@raex.com>

    > I am not as nervous as some about the term "provisional atheism," recalling
    > that in the first centuries Christians were sometimes called "atheists"
    > because they didn't
    > believe in the deities that the pagans worshipped. & if it's a question of
    > whether or
    > not I believe in the god who insists on leaving his fingerprints all over
    > the evidence, I am /a/ that particular /theos/.

    In a world in which everyone both understood and respected the limited
    technical meaning of a term like "provisional atheism," perhaps I would have
    far less objection to it. However, observing the rhetorical strategy of
    using such a term to reinforce the careless melding of methodological
    naturalism (a statement about the limitations of natural science) with
    ontological naturalism (a statement that excludes the category of deity from
    reality) would, I presume, bother both of us.

    Howard Van Till



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