metaphysical naturalism

In response to theowarner's call for definitions of "natural" and "supernatural".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJFZoTGzM2E

I also give a defense of metaphysical naturalism.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• urbanelf
• theowarner
• atheism
• theism
• metaphysical
• naturalism
• natural
• supernatural

[sooper2dooper3]

maybe you should invest in a lightbulb next time you make a video.

[mattgresh1]

nature can be defined as an organism-environment. Therefore if you go against the "normality" of the organisms in your environment along with the environment it self, then you are unnatural. Debate: Homosexuality is natural because organisms can be homosexual. Then with logic you can continue: .. Therefore environments can be homosexual. This entire statement is true because you cannot describe an organism without simultaneously describing its environment.

[JonathanM00r3]

Great video! Although, I take exception to the claim that Free Will is supernatural. I don't think that's true. Just about any compatibilist will give you a naturalistic conception of free will that retains all of the features worth wanting in free will (e.g. Dennett, Hume, Locke, Hobbes, etc.). But other than that, I thought the argument was very strong.

[MrBenMcLean]

God's words cannot return void - once spoken they must return true.

God is just - and is thus incapable of commuting an injustice.

No one can carry out both of two mutually exclusive alternatives - not even God.

[MrBenMcLean]

OK well here are some of them. All I am attempting to prove here is that the God of the Bible follows rules or laws, or in other words has self-consistent behavior. One thing to realize is that the Christian God is not really "omnipotent" in the modern sense.

God is the way / is righteous - and is thus incapable of doing evil.

God is the truth - and is thus incapable of lying.

God is creative / the Creator / the life - and thus cannot have not created.

[urbanelf]

Well, why haven't you picked a description and write it into the comments yet?

[MrBenMcLean]

Well we've got proposed descriptions of God. That's what theology books are about.

[urbanelf]

"We usually don't have COMPLETE information about anything."

We have complete access to our own proposed descriptions of reality.

Not so with the supernatural.  Perhaps God's behavior is law like, but I'm still waiting to hear you propose what that could possibly be.

[MrBenMcLean]

Well a complete description of God's behavior is not accessible to us but we do have SOME information about God's behavior patterns - or at least, this is the claim of organized religion with scripture.

We usually don't have COMPLETE information about anything.

[urbanelf]

So, he has law like behavior, but it's totally inaccessible to us... which puts us in precisely the same epistemic relationship with his behavior as if it were not describable as law like.