The best online Debate website - DebateIsland.com! The only Online Debate Website with Casual, Persuade Me, Formalish, and Formal Online Debate formats. We’re the Leading Online Debate website. Debate popular topics, Debate news, or Debate anything! Debate online for free! Do scientific atheists contradict themselves in their belief?in Philosophy

Nope

EmeryPearson
If something is scientifically unable to be proven then to believe it is false would be unscientific. I am confused on your position.

BaconToes

EmeryPearson said:

@Nope

"The belief god does not exist comes in conflict with the scientific method of figuring out if something is true"

This is why it's not in conflict, as impersonal deities are untestable, and therefore unknowable as far as science and the scientific method is concerned. It is however, logically dishonest.

Claim: God is real
Test: Search for God
Falsifiability: Nope
You cannot find God because humans do not have an infinite perceptual field. 

What we can do, is disprove the bible, a book supposedly was written by multiple people over 1500 years that were mind-controlled by God[1] and is considered "infallible."
Since a book written by an infallible being must not be false, then we can prove it to be false(oh wait, we already did)

Sources:
[1] http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/who-wrote-the-bible

EmeryPearson

@Nope

The metaphysical is outside the purview of science, science makes no statement on the question of God. Logic and science are not the same thing, neither is philosophy or science.. To deny what is outside the realm of science, does not conflict with it. 

If you could point where science makes any claim concerning a deity, I'd be more receptive. 

EmeryPearson

BaconToes said:

EmeryPearson said:

@Nope

"The belief god does not exist comes in conflict with the scientific method of figuring out if something is true"

This is why it's not in conflict, as impersonal deities are untestable, and therefore unknowable as far as science and the scientific method is concerned. It is however, logically dishonest.

Claim: God is real
Test: Search for God
Falsifiability: Nope
You cannot find God because humans do not have an infinite perceptual field. 

What we can do, is disprove the bible, a book supposedly was written by multiple people over 1500 years that were mind-controlled by God[1] and is considered "infallible."
Since a book written by an infallible being must not be false, then we can prove it to be false(oh wait, we already did)

Sources:
[1] http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/who-wrote-the-bible

Which God? How are you defining your deity?
How can you test for which you have not yet defined?
How can you conclude feasibility without defining nor testing?
Why does your deity require an infinite perceptual field to detect? Do all deities require this?

And yes, I do agree with your last statement, personal deities are falsifiable, and it would not be illogical to deny them.

MayCaesar

A pragmatic approach to scientific theories is seeing them as models describing, with a limited precision, the observable phenomena. Science is not designed in a way requiring its followers to "believe" in those theories, it instead requires them to rigorously test and verify those theories. One could object that one individual cannot possibly recreate all the experiments that led science to its current state, so it is fair to say that a certain degree of trust is required in science (for example, we assume that peer-reviewed articles, at the very least, have a significant scientific value - and this assumption is warranted by the article submission and peer-reviewing process, which are pretty thorough, even if somewhat subjective and biased). However, it is still profoundly different from what a "belief" is.

But to answer your question, if you indeed believe in everything in science, then you exhibit traits of a religious belief. However, as far as I know, "atheist" refers to someone who rejects the existence of supernatural beings, not necessarily someone who doesn't have any religious beliefs. So the answer is probably "no".

BaconToes

EmeryPearson said:

Which God? How are you defining your deity?
How can you test for which you have not yet defined?
How can you conclude feasibility without defining nor testing?
Why does your deity require an infinite perceptual field to detect? Do all deities require this?

And yes, I do agree with your last statement, personal deities are falsifiable, and it would not be illogical to deny them.

Christan God. 
The creator and supreme being (in a monotheistic religion such as Christianity)
Feasibility ≠ Falsifiability
You would need an infinite perceptual fiend to detect because humans cannot see simultaneously everywhere.