How does the Atheist account for the laws of logic?

Question

I asked this in a previous question and just got argumentative responses b/c I involved my beliefs. So please just answer the question to your best ability, and understand that my beliefs have nothing to do with this question, I am simply trying to understand your (if you are an Atheist) account?

AGAIN, So please just answer the question to your best ability, and understand that my beliefs have nothing to do with this question, I am simply trying to understand your (if you are an Atheist) account?

If the atheist states that the laws of logic are derived through observing natural principles found in nature, then he is confusing the mind with the universe.

Answer 1

Okay, they don't need any proof to swallow what it is they believe. And yet they deny that emphatically. So therefore they are in denial about something they have no clue of; that's not scientific.

So while are espousing Atheism, they admit to being unscientific, and therefore illogical to the Methods of Science. It's obviously important to them, many are here every single day preaching it.

So the one's you are asking about: "How does the Atheist account for the laws of logic?" , you are writing of a people in complete denial about what they think. They attribute logic to others things perhaps, but by definition they are irrational and faithful to their beliefs.

My point is that you are asking for logic from a people who are by definition wandering away from the very precepts they attest to, and yet living in the conflict of their own denial.

You cannot get a rational answer from such a person who's demeanor is set so deep in denial. They will rationalize their answers; some by avoiding the question, and some by denying the charge.

I noticed that you answer does not give a charge. You did not accuse them of anything, you only mentioned that you got some argumentative answers. And yet, people in denial react by acting accused because they feel like they are under pressure. They feel guilty.

Answer 2

On which day of creation did God create logic? Logic is entirely an invention of humanity. Before the principles of logic were formulated, human thought was dominated by assumption and superstition, which made connections based on analogical similarities, not verified premises. The inventors of logic had to strip human understanding to its epistemological bedrock and ask, what do we really know and how do we know it? Logic is a discipline that prohibits assumptions that have not been verified and disallows invalid relationships between unrelated statements.

Logic is not a natural process. The human mind developed in such a way that it automatically fills in gaps in perception and understanding so that experience seems seamless and continuous, reducing anxiety about what we don't perceive and understand. Such a mind is subjective and prone to ignoring realities that don't match its pre-established beliefs. Logic is an attempt to determine objective reality through a chain of validations, without the cognitive shortcuts that the mind naturally prefers.

The battle for logic has been waged over centuries and continues today, as latter-day sophists attempt to persuade with arguments that only appear to be logical. The contention that "God" made our minds logical is as specious as the notion that all civil laws derive from the Ten Commandments. We built logic on our own, out of the wreckage of flawed assumptions and their consequences.

Answer 3

If an apple falls from a tree, why does it not dance the Macarena while wearing a polka dot bikini? Well, why the hell would it? That bullshit I just made up would require MORE of an explanation than the logical explanation.

Logic is the abscence of Magic in the same way darkness is the abscence of light. You don't need a wizard, gods or pixies to explain why 1+1=2, you need a wizard to explain why 1+1= Hitler in a bikini top and clown shoes riding a pokadot elephant and singing "Kryptonite" by 3 doors down.

Answer 4

Your assumption is that the laws of logic are based on some supernatural omnipotent being creating an ordered universe.

However, attempting to formulate your arguments in such a way as they are consistent and non-contradictory is not the sole providence of a supernatural sky-dude. It is purely a method of formalizing thought and communication.

The facts of propositional logic have a similar epistemological status as facts about the physical universe. If you assume these facts are actual truths observable and interpretable by human minds, then logic follows the same rules.

If your assumption is that reality is purely shaped by the mind that perceives it, then in a metaphysical sense, neither reality nor logic exist outside of the mind that conceives of the terms.

Most atheists tend to be realists, and act as though actions you observe actually occur, facts you observe are really facts, and rocks are really rocks.

Otherwise, there is no way to prove that the entire universe doesn't exist solely as a dream in your mind - or a program in the Matrix, or whatever other philosophical construct you wish to assemble.

Answer 5

In the exact same matter that theistic philosophers account for them. Very few philosophers believe that logic derives from God. Like most mathematics, logic is a set of definitions that are tested by internal consistency and consistency with the observed world. The process was created by man.

Answer 6

You did not like the answers you got on your prior question because you got called on your lack of logic.

Here is a copy of my answer to match the copy of your question. Enjoy.

Actually, atheists are not trying to disprove god. That is impossible. Atheists are asking for proof of god. If there was a god then there should be some sort of proof available.

If a person believes in a god without any sort of proof to back it up then that person should not ever expect someone else to have the same blind belief. Remember, there are or have been hundreds (perhaps thousands) of different gods that people have believed in. You do not believe in those gods do you? There is as much proof to support those beliefs as you have to support the belief in your god.

The basic problem solving logic (the exact same of problem solving logic that has built our civilization), is to not accept a fact as being a fact until it can be proven or demonstrated in some way.

Answer 7

Of course the laws of logic is a study in itself and is not easily explained but my use of the term identifies a class of formal logics that have been most intensively studied and most widely used. They are characterized by a number of properties which are:

Law of the excluded middle and Double negative elimination;
Law of noncontradiction;
Monotonicity of entailment;
Commutativity of conjunction;
De Morgan duality: every logical operator is dual to another.

As you can see, each property could be a study in itself but the point is we, or I suppose I should say, I, likely use the same accepted laws of logic as do you. We simply seem to arrive at differing conclusions.

Answer 8

Logic is a concept that we realize and use to understand our world. Concepts do not have to originate from supernatural beings. It's just that our universe is predictable, and mathematics is the language of logic. If we apply logic to our thoughts, we can better understand the universe. If I were to say that I drew a circular rectangle, you would say that makes no sense. By definition, a rectangle is not the shape of a circle. You have used logic to refute my claim. God doesn't even come into the picture.

Answer 9

If we accept a few basic truths against which no one really argues (modus ponens, noncontradiction), then we can build up almost everything else. We can even bypass the philosophical skeptics using trancendental arguments.

We also tend to use Occam's razor as a rule of thumb, rejecting ideas that require lots of unproven assumptions, and we typically apply abductive principles where they seem right.


Read "The Philosopher's Toolkit" for an overview of how philosophical reasoning works.

Answer 10

We made up the laws of logic too. Sure it makes sense to us, and it provides value in advancing our lives, but there is nothing anywhere that says that our logical laws are actually well, applying logical terms, true.