Monday, March 26, 2012

Incinerating Presuppositionalism: Year Seven

Today is March 26, 2012, which means: another anniversary of Incinerating Presuppositionalism has been reached. That’s right, another milestone has been achieved.

The past year has signaled a most momentous transition for me. I moved with my then three-year-old daughter to Thailand from the United States in May 2011, started a new position, and have sought to live as a functionally single parent in a foreign country (where I do not speak the language). It’s been the experience and challenge of a lifetime. My lasting as long as I have – with my daughter reaching her fourth birthday, completing her first year of kindergarten, and developing as an exceptionally gifted child (albeit, with my special help) – is not a miracle, but a testament to my dedication and perseverance as a civilized human being and my ability as a father. Indeed, I’m not the kind of parent who’s about to stand idly by and let his child be abducted, tortured and executed by a bunch of lawbreakers and miscreants. Nope, unlike the Christian god, I’ll protect my child till my last breath!

In the meantime, I have continued with my blog, and have published the following entries since my blog’s last anniversary, the same time last year:

250. Incinerating Presuppositionalism: Year Six – March 26, 2011

251. Imagine There’s a Heaven - April 29, 2011

252. The Argument from the Unity of Knowledge - May 25, 2011

253. Considering Tony’s Offerings - June 2, 2011

254. A Proof that the Christian God Does Not Exist - July 15, 2011

255. Nide’s Snide - July 22, 2011

256. Presuppositionalism vs. Objectivism: How Objectivism Prevails - August 2, 2011

257. Five Years and Still Waiting… - August 12, 2011

258. STB: One Year and Still Waiting… - August 27, 2011

259. Answering Nide’s Questions about the Uniformity of Nature - September 6, 2011

260. Strange Bedfellows? - October 3, 2011

261. George H. Smith’s “Atheism: The Case Against God” – Online – Free PDF - October 16, 2011

262. Has the Primacy of Existence Been Refuted? - October 27, 2011

263. A Reply to Dustin Seger’s Dismantled Blog Entry on Objectivism - November 1, 2011

264. Cognitive Reliability vs. Supernatural Deception - November 21, 2011

265. Christianity’s Sanction of Evil - December 1, 2011

266. Christianity’s Psychological Price Tag - December 4, 2011

267. Some Thoughts on the “Sensus Divinitatis” - December 6, 2011

268. A Reply to Michael: Further Thoughts on the Issue of Supernatural Deception - December 10, 2011

269. Are the Laws of Logic “Thoughts” of the Christian God? - January 1, 2012

270. Reaction to My Critique of Anderson and Welty’s “The Lord of Non-Contradiction” - February 25, 2012

271. Nide’s 15 - March 6, 2012

272. Can a Worldview “Provide” the “Preconditions of Intelligibility”? - Part I - March 16, 2012

273. Can a Worldview “Provide” the “Preconditions of Intelligibility”? - Part II - March 17, 2012

274. Can a Worldview “Provide” the “Preconditions of Intelligibility”? - Part III - March 20, 2012

275. The Self-Attesting Absurdity of the Christian Worldview - March 22, 2012

Highlights from the past year include (not to mention being evacuated from a flooded Bangkok in the fall of 2011!):
- a most historic pwning of Dustin Segers in his fault-ridden attempt to refute the primacy of existence;
- two posts interacting with James Anderson and Greg Welty’s paper The Lord of Non-Contradiction, found here and here;
- and a three-part analysis of the presuppositionalist claim that the Christian worldview “provides” the necessary preconditions for intelligibility, found here, here, and here.
So there’s a lot here to sink your teeth into. So get busy – start reading, start digesting, start thinking. Consider the points I raise, and formulate your own view. Perhaps I’m wrong. If so, discover why. Perhaps I’m right. If so, understand why. In the meantime, I will do my best, given my haphazard and very full schedule, to keep up with my blog and carry it to its eighth anniversary.

by Dawson Bethrick

29 comments:

Ydemoc said...

Dawson,

Congratulations on another great year!

Ydemoc

Anonymous said...

"Indeed, I’m not the kind of parent who’s about to stand idly by and let his child be abducted, tortured and executed by a bunch of lawbreakers and miscreants. Nope, unlike the Christian god, I’ll protect my child till my last breath!"

Of course you do, dawson, that's because deep down inside you believe in God.

Unknown said...

Hello Dawson: Nice work. When are you going to package your best stuff into a book? Even self publishing as an ebook for the common reader devices would be interesting and useful.

@Nide/Hezekiah

Did you ever post that question you mentioned? I'm feeling better today as I'm getting well from the crud that I've had for this last month.

Best and Good

Justin Hall said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Justin Hall said...

Hi there Robert, hope you are feeling better. I always enjoy your posts, you clearly have scientific knowledge that exceeds even my own. I still am pondering what you had to say about the big bang a few months back. I also agree with you Dawson needs to put out a book. I can imagine it sitting on my book shelf right by George Smith's works, yes this is a blatant attempt to appeal to Dawson's ego and motivate him to publish:)

Justin Hall said...

man compared to late last year I can hear the crickets chirping here:)

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Hello friends: I posted a new comment at Dawson's blog The imaginative nature of christian theism

http://bahnsenburner.blogspot.com/2010/05/imaginative-nature-of-christian-theism.html

Hi Justin: Thank you for your kind words. I'm feeling much better and an getting more exercise and going back on the health diet too.

Not to sound like Mrs Kravatezs in the really funny Jerry Lewis movie "The Disorderly Orderly", I felt far worse than I was actually sick. My flu would not quit and the pleurisy made every breath or movement feel like the knife stabbed into my chest was being twisted by some sort of Torquemada.

My doctor sent me home with the usual advice of get some rest, stay hydrated, take Advil, eat quality food. I then took it upon myself to find a better treatment. Here's what I came up with.

1 part Virgin Coconut Oil
1 part organic unfiltered unpasteurized honey
1 part turmeric power

Mix to consistency of pudding. Take 1 tablespoon twice a day evey 12 hours. (This is uber fattening, but it fiercely buffs up the immune system.)

Take 1.5 grams Bee Pollen, 1.5 grams Olive Leaf Extract, 1.5 grams L-Lysine three times a day every 8 hours.

This is only anecdotal but perhaps somewhere there is a double blind clinical trial for some of this stuff's effectiveness against flues and pleurisy.

Best Wishes

Unknown said...

Hello Hezekiah: I don't see your name listed on your profile, so I'll just call you Nide as does Dawson at Incinerating Presuppositionalism.

Nide, You typed that you had a question for me. What is it?

I tried to post this on your blog, but it did not display a submit button after I typed in the Captcha, so I'll post it here.

While you think about that, here's my original argument against god belief.

1. To believe that a theistic creator deity exists, the believer must imagine their deity was in some timeless fashion akin to "before" existence alone in a timeless, non-spatial, void, without matter, energy, location, dimensions, fields, concepts, knowledge, symbols, perceptions, physical natural law, logic, or referents. And that it then wished existence to instantiate.

2. Consciousness is an axiomatic irreducible primary process that at the most common denominative rung on the ladder of complexity consists of awareness of existence.

3. Consciousness of consciousness essentially requires primary consciousness to first obtain as awareness of existence.

4. Prior to existence there could not have been anything to be aware of.

5. Without anything to be aware of, there could not have been any awareness.

6. Without awareness there could not have been any consciousness.

7. From 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 there could not have been a primordial consciousness prior to existence.

8. Creator gods are defined as primordial consciousness.

9. From 7 and 8 Creator gods cannot exist.

As Dawson has proven, for you to believe is some god or other, you have to start out by imagining it. This is because there is noting about reality that indicates any of the gods people believe in are actually real.

However our brains and nervous systems produce consciousness, its ultimately awareness of existence. Without existence there can't be awareness and consequently consciousness, so consciousness could not have caused existence. Besides without existence there cannot be casualty.

Religion can be a positive influence. Many people find great satisfaction in their religious practices. Problems happen when they want to force others to accept their mythology as truth. Theistic mythology is not true as Dawson and as I, directly above have proven. To continue on in theistic belief disregarding Dawson's work and my little argument above indicates the disregarding theist is not being honest with their own selves or are indeed delusional to the point of being off their rocker.

You seem like a nice guy. I hope you can come to understand Christian mythology is not truth. You can still enjoy your religion by means of willing suspension of disbelief as you would do when going to a good movie at a theater. Consider how weird it is to sit in a dark room with a hundred strangers. But its ok because everyone is there to participate in the imaginative fantasy depicted on the screen. If its a really good movie, after a while you'll forget your in a theater as you become engrossed in the fantasy story. When its over, perhaps you'll fell a bit of catharsis to your benefit. Religion works the same way.

Times up - got to go. Best Wishes

Anonymous said...

Robert,

I could also be imagining you.

Justin Hall said...

good point Hezekiah, and just how would you go about determining that you were imagining Robert or me for that matter. Do you just give up and tell your self there is no way to figure that out. That would be easier, you would not have to deal with Roberts argument then would you?

Ydemoc said...

Hezekiah,

Can the god you believe in be curious?

Why does it ask questions?

Does Satan have faith?

Does one need faith in order to doubt?

Ydemoc

Anonymous said...

Justin,

That's none of your business and I'll thank you to stay out of my personal affairs.- Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Unknown said...

Hello and Good Morning Hezekiah

I typed: "Theistic mythology is not true as Dawson and as I, directly above have proven. To continue on in theistic belief disregarding Dawson's work and my little argument above indicates the disregarding theist is not being honest with their own selves or are indeed delusional to the point of being off their rocker."

Also the work of many other qualified atheist and O-ist philosophers has shown the gods to be either impossible or so wildly improbable as to not be worth concern. Perhaps you really are off your rocker. Nide, you do seem very incompetent as well. I hope you don't make your incompetence manifest at your job. You need to keep the paycheck coming in, so keep talk of religion to yourself while at work.

You typed: "I could also be imagining you." rather than asking me your question. I assume then you really don't have a question, for if a rational person did have a question they'd ask it instead of evading and obfuscating.

If you're imagining me, then your likely only imagining yourself, no? And if your only imaginary, as opposed to being real in the sense of still being there if no mind is imagining you, then what is imagining you so as that you can imagine yourself or me or Dawson? If that "what" were to be a ruling cosmic consciousness (RCC) that imagines everything including you, me, Justin, Ydemoc, Dawson, et. al., ect., then nothing is real and its Strawberry Fields Forever.

See your not so dumb after all, you've touched on the essence of Primacy of Consciousness. If the RCC you and others call God were to be real, nothing else would still be there if the RCC did not imagine it. You'd not be real, neither would anything or anybody else. In that event, all the fraked up horrible heinous pain and suffering of all animals and people that have ever been "imagined" by the RCC is directly attributable to the RCC so it would be culpable.

But wait it gets worse, if RCC is all, then there is no good or evil or morality, or knowledge, or facts because these all depend upon material existence existing independently of all consciousness. In the event the RCC were to be the ultimate solipsist, then this fantasy universe would be indicative of its hatred for its own self. Transfering its self-hatred to its fantasy, would account for why so much unjustifiable suffering is observered.

That Objectivist philosophers like Dawson have such strong arguments against the RCC is significant as well, for if it were the case that RCC existed as the ulitmate solipsist, then its self hatred and desire to not exist would likely be expressed through rational philosophy showing it can't exist. Perhaps sadly for the RCC it can't terminate, so it can only wistfully muse that it were possible for it to stop.

All this silliness can be laid directly at door of Primacy of Consciousness. Fortunately, primacy of existence metaphysics are valid.

Give Dawson credit for

http://katholon.com/poe.htm

Have yourself a great day and enjoy the egg hunt.

Anonymous said...

Robert,

It's the other way around if God is imaginary then everything is imaginary.

Now Robert how is it that you are not imaginary.

Bahnsen Burner said...

Alex wrote: “I don't know if you heard the podcast featuring Mr Corniel, Dawson

http://fundamentally-flawed.com/pods/?p=episode&name=2012-03-30_episode_41__hezekiah_ahaz_special.mp3

Hello Alex,

Thanks for linking to your podcast featuring the individual with multiple identities.

I’ve been extremely busy this past week, but I was able to download your podcast and have listened to its entirety, and several portions of it I’ve listened to a few additional times. I really enjoyed it.

I must say, Nide/HA/Mr. Corniell seems more likable in a podcast than he does in his blog comments. However, the level of incoherence and inanity seems unchanging between the two. I get the impression that his incoherence is correlative (if not causally connected) to his inability or unwillingness to present a stable identity for himself.

On this, I will have more to say in my next set of comments. Stay tuned!

Regards,
Dawson

Bahnsen Burner said...

Alex wrote: “I wonder why Richard 'Hezekiah Ahaz' Conniel continued to let everyone think that he was his (uninvolved, perhaps) brother, Nide? Unless, of course, he's a pathological liar, and really IS Nide all along. “

Your question has prompted me to do a little research into the history of Nide’s appearances in my blog’s comments. What I’ve uncovered is rather striking. Here is what I found:

(a) The first time the person behind the “r_c321” blogger address posted on my blog was on 5 July 2011 to this entry. The person posting this comment did not end with a signature of any kind, and thus is a kind of anonymous comment.

(b) Nide first signed his name as “Hezekiah Ahaz” in his July 16, 2011 comment to http://bahnsenburner.blogspot.com/2011/07/proof-that-christian-god-does-not-exist.html>this blog entry.

(c) The first time Nide posted under the “Hezekiah Ahaz” moniker was on 9 August 2011 in a comment to this blog entry. Incidentally, in that comment, Nide linked to this web address:

http://romansoneexposingatheism.blogspot.com/2011/08/does-god-have-cell-phone.html

which now appears to be non-existent.

(d) Between the first comment posted by “r_c321” on 5 July 2011 and the first comment posted by “Hezekiah Ahaz” on 9 August 2011, “r_c321” commented a total of 148 times.

(e) After this, beginning on 9 August 2011, comments left by “Hezekiah Ahaz” continued without any being posted as “r_c321,” though the return e-mail address tagged to “Hezekiah Ahaz” comments through 20 January 2012 is r_c321@hotmail.com (the last one appearing on this blog).

(f) Beginning on 11 February 2012, all “Hezekiah Ahaz” comments have carried the return e-mail address of “noreply-comment@blogger.com”, which is auto-generated by Blogger.

(g) I searched my inbox for keyword “Hezekiah Ahaz,” and there is a period of “silence” from the last posting by “r_c321” on 20 January 2012 (on this entry) until the first “Hezekiah Ahaz” posting under the generic “noreply-comment@blogger.com” on 11 February 2012 (on the very same entry).

Bahnsen Burner said...

(h) Comments to my blog from a “Nide Corniell” (with return e-mail address of: nidewrites@gmail.com) appeared a total of 23 times, between 12 July and 18 November, 2012, on the following instances:

- on Considering Tony’s Offerings

- 2 times on 12 July

- on A Proof that the Christian God Does Not Exist

- 1 time on 15 July
- 1 time on 18 July
- 1 time on 20 July
- 1 time on 21 July
- 1 time on 22 July

- on Presuppositionalism vs. Objectivism: How Objectivism Prevails

- 1 time on 8 August
- 2 times on 6 August

- on Nide’s Snide -

- 1 time on 7 August (as “Nide Corniell,” inquiring why his name was in the title of my blog entry)

- on STB: One Year and Still Waiting -

- 1 time on 27 August
- 1 time on 29 August
- 1 time on 3 September

- on Answering Nide’s Questions about the Uniformity of Nature -

- 1 time on 18 September

- on Strange Bedfellows -

- 1 time on 3 October
- 1 time on 8 October
- 2 times on 11 October
- 1 time on 15 October

- on Has the Primacy of Existence Been Refuted? -

- 1 time on 29 October
- 2 times on 30 October

- on A Reply to Dustin Segers’ Dismantled Blog Entry on Objectivism -

- 1 time on 18 November

Bahnsen Burner said...

Each of these times, save for the comment submitted on 7 August to Nide’s Snide, appears to be a “mistake.” At one point, on 22 July in the comments of Nide’s Snide, “r_c321” posted the following remark:

“Thank you. I feel honored and so does my brother Nide.”

Then on 2 August, “r_c321” commented on this blog:

“Nide? No that's my brother Sir. What part don't you get.”

Earlier, on 12 July 2012, in a comment on Considering Tony’s Offerings, “r_c321” wrote:

“Nide is not my name. I accidentally signed in with someone else account.”

This was after a comment posted by “Nide Corniell” had earlier appeared in the same comment chain (with the following return address: nidewrites@gmail.com). Notice that in this comment, the “someone else” is not identified as the commenter’s brother. It’s just “someone else.” Whoever “Nide” is, had at this point to start coming up with an explanation for these repeated mistakes.

I think the most reasonable assessment, given the record I’ve captured above, is that the person posting as “Hezekiah Ahaz” is in fact the same person who blogs as “Nide Corniell.” I’m guessing that both are fictitious monikers. That a person has actually “accidentally signed in” with “someone else[‘s] account” when posting comments on Blogger a total of 22 times over the course of a month seems quite a stretch to me. I really find it rather incredible, and suspect that someone is trying to pull our leg here. Moreover, the name “Hezekiah Ahaz” appears to be made up, inspired perhaps by several passages from the bible which include both names “Hezekiah” and “Ahaz” in conjunction (see for instance this collection of verses). The person posting under the Blogger account “r_c321” did not originally sign his name as “Hezekiah Ahaz.” This seems to be a later invention, in order to keep his real identity obscure. That “Hezekiah Ahaz” is the brother of “Nide Corniell” also seems dubious, since the surnames here are not similar.

Given these facts, and the need to keep a commenter’s identity consistent, I have found that it’s most prudent to refer to this particular troll as “Nide.” And until I have really solid evidence to correct this, I will continue doing so.

I hope that helps!

Regards,
Dawson

Anonymous said...

Dawson,

Actually, No, it's called pride. It's hard for you to admit and deal with the fact that you are WRONG.

Don't let it swallow you up.

Justin Hall said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Justin Hall said...

I wonder why it is that Hezekiah Ahaz strives to hide his true identity so much. Could it be that we have all been duped by what may possibly be the greatest Poe of all time? If he is a Poe I'd be still laughing at myself in May:)

Unknown said...

Hezekiah Ahaz said...]

Robert,

It's the other way around if God is imaginary then everything is imaginary.

Now Robert how is it that you are not imaginary.

Nide: whatever your name is. You've exhibited extreme incompetence and delusion to an extent of indicating you're probably off your rocker. Besides hiding behind multiple monikers and not coming clean about your identity disqualifies you from being in a position to ask questions.

You're evading and obfuscating in an effort to ignore all the many good arguments against your silly fantasy.

Do you recall my point about testing your god and why it would be inappropriate to rely upon Matt 4:7 to excuse yourself from fulfilling your obligation to yourself to make sure your operating in a context of reality?

Here's the deal then, if you come clean and reveal your actual identity and location, then I'll pay attention while you pray for your god to tell you my special number I wrote down in my notebook last month.

Surely it'd be worth it to honest up and be real to show up us Objectivists that your god is also real like in the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal in 1 Kings 18.

So pray tell, who are you? Where are you? Why have you been hiding your identity? Doesn't the alleged teaching of your supposed god mean anything to you:

Matt 10:16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves."

Being like a sheep and innocent as a dove mandates you man-up and come clean about your identity.

Since you've been deceiving the people who use this blog, you do not merit a pleasant valediction.

RB

Anonymous said...

Robert,

When you are ready to let me know how is that you're not imaginary come by my blog.

Ydemoc said...

Dawson,

You wrote, regarding Hezekiah's podcast appearance, that he "seems more likable in a podcast than he does in his blog comments. However, the level of incoherence and inanity seems unchanging between the two."

Well said!

Ydemoc

Anonymous said...

Talk about hiding one's indentity "Ydemoc".

Anyway it's easy to sling mud behind a keyboard.

I wonder when Dawson is gonna show us what he is really made of and Skype up with Sye.

Unknown said...

About a month late, but I still wanted to stop in and say congrats on year seven, I am new to your blog over all but look forward to educating myself on your writings, per Justin's recommendation.

Unknown said...

Hello Derik. Nice to meet you and looking forward to conversing and discussions of rational philosophy.

Best Wishes, Cheers.

praestans said...

...."is not a miracle, but a testament [SIC!] to my dedication and perseverance..."

Don't people know that the word 'testament' means 'contract' when what they really mean is 'testimony' ?