Atheism

I don't have "beliefs"...and despite the fact that so many people, including you, indicate that everyone has "beliefs"...I DO NOT

Nobody really takes all the semantic quibbling that seriously, Frank.

You seem to propose that you, personally, either "know" (absolutely, without possibility of debate or question, etc.) something or else guess at it.

But, as I have pointed out, knowledge itself, by all common accounts, necessarily includes belief.

You do not get the final say to dictate that it must necessarily include "belief

Plato set the criteria for what has become the standard for evaluating "knowledge" in western culture thousands of years ago.

He said that knowledge was "justified true belief." In order to conclude that one "knows" any given proposition: (1) the proposition must be true, (2) the person asserting knowledge of the proposition must believe it, and (3) his belief must be justified (not based on "guesses").

And you are suggesting that there is some semantic quibbling going on with ME???

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And you are suggesting that there is some semantic quibbling going on with ME???

I would merely suggest that anybody who wants to can call a cat a "dog," but that the cat will not thereby become a dog.

We can very well survive without a belief in gods, of course, but we still have all sorts of other beliefs to keep us moving. That's my only point: beliefs are A-okay. therefore, there's nothing wrong with an atheist believing there are no gods.

What problem do you have with me calling my guesses...guesses?

why not just stop making those suggestions?

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What problem do you have with me calling my guesses...guesses?

I don't have any particular "problem" with it. I think I know what you're driving at with that line.

But this whole thing goes far beyond what YOU call YOUR own conclusions. You seem to have immense problems with anyone who adopt your idiosyncrasies about the word "belief."

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why not just stop making those suggestions?

You must have confused me with someone else. I am not suggesting anything, just saying things the way I see them. And the way I see them, you cannot change, so it would be unwise to ask you to change.

But you (and some of the others) seem intent on insisting that I MUST use "belief" rather than guess...when I am making a guess. You folk seem intent on telling me that I MUST HAVE BELIEFS.

Why?

I didn't even begin to try to tell you what words you MUST use. I simply noted the difference between your definition and "common usage." By the standard of common usage, I would say that you do, in fact, have beliefs, whether you want to acknowledge it, or not.

It's just a word. Using or not using it will not make you a better or worse person. It doesn't matter, really... As long as you don't expect others to agree with you, you should be fine.

Also if you could avoid cluttering the board with that single issue, that'd be great. Otherwise, well... there's always the ignore button.