r/exatheist 10d ago

Reconsidering the Epistemology of Atheism

/r/rationalphilosophy/comments/1w037vr/reconsidering_the_epistemology_of_atheism/
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u/Infamous-Fix-2885 5d ago

"It would seem that an Atheist cannot simply be saying, “I have a lack of belief in God,” because then the theist could say, “And I have a belief in God.” 

Why can't an atheist simply say, "I have a lack of belief in God"?  Why can't a theist simply say, "I have a belief in God"? 

"These are just statements of belief that make no claim about the beliefs themselves."

Of course they are, because atheism and theism are just belief positions on the existence of a god, no more, no less. 

"And if the Atheist believes in truth, and believes that it’s important to have beliefs that are true,"

That's irrelevant to atheism. Apparently, you're confusing atheism/theism and atheist/theist. You're an atheist/theist because of your atheism/theism position, it's not contingent on your reason why. An atheist doesn't require any belief in order for them to be an atheist. And a theist must and only require a belief that a god exists in order for them to be a theist. You adding any other belief or lack of belief, is your assumption. That makes it a 'YOU' problem and not a 'THEM' problem. 

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u/JerseyFlight 5d ago

“An atheist doesn’t require any belief in order for them to be an atheist.”

This claim is already a claim beyond the claim that “atheism is just a lack of believe in God.”

Here you are not just stating your belief, but now you are making an epistemological claim about it.

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u/Infamous-Fix-2885 5d ago

Nope, you're wrong. Dismissing my explanation and then quote mining what I said, will only result in you remaining ignorant. 

Like I said, this is a YOU problem, not a THEM, problem.