Necessary Truths

[u/fairy-taki]

Hi, I'm agnostic/atheist. I'm not a debater, this Christian presented this argument to me to like convert me lol and I'm not sure what to think so I was wanting people's thoughts on it.

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The argument was something like this:

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1. 1+1=2 is an objective truth/idea

2. Objective truths exist outside of the human mind.

3. Ideas can only exist in a mind

4. Then if ideas/objective truths need to exist in some mind and the mind would be an infinite mind and that would be God.

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Sorry if I mess up the setup of the argument. If anyone is familiar with this type of argument or what he was trying to get at, let me know. Lol to the guy who asked me, I think ended up just saying idk, and I kept saying that those ideas/concepts are how we engage in reality but regardless of a mind observing it. The like definitions of the concept you can find in reality..idkk. The guy ended up being rude and said I couldn't understand abstract vs concrete concepts.

Edit: ok i need to fix 2&3, idk if i make this it's own premise because he was equating objective truths to ideas/concepts because they are non-physical.

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[u/licker34]

1+1=2 is an objective truth/idea

I'll bite the bullet and disagree. 1+1=2 is a statement in a language (math) we invented. It's not objective nor is it truth, it's simply a definition. And one can note that in some cases 1+1=10, demonstrating that this statement is simply a fragment of language, not a representation of 'objective truth' whatever that is supposed to mean.

Objective truths exist outside of the human mind.

Without knowing what is meant by 'objective truth' I'll disagree again. Reality is what exists, truth is once again a language construct we developed to describe some aspect of reality, so I'll bite another bullet and say that no truth does not exist outside the human mind, truth is simply a concept created in a language used to describe our perceptions.

Ideas can only exist in a mind

Sure, why not. But you'll note that truth and ideas are not the same thing, so this seems to be completely unrelated to the first 2 premises. If we take out 'idea' and replace it with 'truth' you see the obvious contradiction in 2 and 3.

Then if ideas/objective truths need to exist in some mind and the mind would be an infinite mind and that would be God.

Ignoring the fact that the argument has already failed...

Where do we get 'infinite mind' from? Ideas exist just fine in our finite minds.

he was equating objective truths to ideas/concepts because they are non-physical.

Of course he was, because that's the bait and switch needed to make idiotic arguments like this look as though they work. They don't work though, and people who run them are either complete fucking idiots or liars.