In answer to a previous Q, Monkey Man said, "The person above seems to challenge atheists to say that God doesn't exist. You cannot prove a negative. It is up to you to prove that God exists which haven't done and I say ever will." I agree that this negative CAN'T be proved, and neither can God be proved. For a believer, the absence of proof is called Faith. But i challenge the general statement that negatives can't be proved. Is this scientific?
2007-09-17 05:34:22 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
it is logically impossible to prove non-existence, as lack of evidence is not evidence of non-existence.
2007-09-17 05:45:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it IS possible to prove a negative. I can prove with 100% certainty that there is no highest prime number, for example. I suppose I can also prove that the Statue of Liberty is not in my car's glove compartment by looking inside.
Of course, these proofs involve mathematics (which is rigidly defined and works on purely deductive logic) or well-defined objects (we know how big the actual Statue of Liberty is and know there's only one of them). Entities like "God" however are much more vague. Regardless, the burden of proof is still on the believer.
2007-09-17 12:42:57 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can not prove a negative, true. But that does not mean that we should assume that the positive is the case, because, although we cannot prove the absence of something to be true, absence is more likely than presence in regards to an unknown factor.
2007-09-17 12:44:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well that part about god can't be proven certainly doesn't have to be true at all. I mean there COULD be all kinds of evidence for a god. The only way it is absolutely true is if he doesn't exist.
Science relies on evidence. The only things that are worth considering scientifically are things that there is evidence for. The rest is just a wild guess, which has almost no chance of being right.
2007-09-17 12:44:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Certain specific negatives can be disproved.
I can prove that there is not a tangible unicorn sat next to me right now.
But more general negatives can not be disproved. I can not disprove the existence of unicorns.
Similarly I can disprove the God of the literal bible. His description is self contradictory. Much of apologetics is taken up with trying to spin those contradictions and pretending that they are not real.
However I can not disprove the existence of a non-biblical god.
2007-09-17 12:47:32 · answer #5 · answered by Simon T 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I can prove that flamingos are not the cause of photosynthesis.
2007-09-17 12:40:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I get to be Murdock!
2007-09-17 12:41:27 · answer #7 · answered by Southpaw 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋