Rationalism
Definition
Rationalism describes any philosophy that claims that beliefs and opinions should always be logical, deductive conclusions rather than being based on experience, observations, religious teachings, or divine revelation.
Keywords: Rationalism, Philosophy, Logical, Reasoning, Deductive, Experience, Observations, Religious, Revelation, Contradictory.
Veracity
Rationalistic claims are false .
Proof
All self-refuting or contradictory claims are deductively false.
Premise 1: Only deductive conclusions should be believed.
Premise 2: Premise 1, being the foundation or starting point of the philosophy, is not itself a deductive conclusion.
Conclusion: Therefore, premise 1, also known as "rationalism", should not be believed.
Rationalistic claims, when adhered to, require the rejection of rationalistic claims. To accept them is to reject them, making rationalism inherently contradictory and deductively false.
Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons
Riveting, yet absurd; romantic, yet innocent; Gilbert Guttlebocker, Defender of Dragons is a little Roald Dahl, a little Harry Potter, and a little Chronicles of Narnia, all rolled into one. Timothy McCabe collaborates with the great Benedict Ballyhoot to bring you the novel of the century!
In Printed Form
Along with numerous other authors including Don Landis, Bodie Hodge and Roger Patterson, Timothy McCabe contributes analyses of various world religions and cults in this volume from Master Books.
Other Writings
"Does Michael Martin's "Atheist's Wager" really show that leading a good life is more important than belief in God?"
No, it doesn't. I'll explain. According to Wikipedia (at the time of this writing), the Atheist's Wager states that if one were to analyze their options in regard to how to live their life, they would arrive at the following possibilities: (A) You may live a good life and believe in a god, and a benevolent god exists, in which case you go to heaven: your gain is infinite.
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"Could Christ have prevented his alleged crucifixion? If he could have but didn't, wasn't that suicide?"
"Could Christ have prevented his alleged crucifixion?" Generally, this type of question, "could someone have done other than what they did?" ultimately means, "was there a point at which the singular cause of the event was the will of the person involved?" If I have correctly understood the intent of the questioner, the answer is absolutely (John 10:18). "If he could have but didn't, wasn't that suicide?
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"Do you think that education is the solution? In other words, would people agree with your view if they just had more knowledge? Is the problem basically one of ignorance?"
No. Education is not the solution because ignorance is not the problem. Sin is the problem; pride, selfishness, self-centeredness, self-glorification, and the like are what lead people to reject the God who made them. Rejection of God's commands leads to a world of pain, famine, disease, war, and ultimately death. Learning more facts will never solve the problem of "I want", or the problem of "Me, me, me".
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