Savant on Falsifiability and the God Hypothesis

[carlo]

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Yes, given its premises the Summa is very rational---and Aquinas was a visionary intellect. However, special pleading one's premises is no longer considered good taste in philosophy.

Anyways, I have no argument with you; I feel instinctively that you have reached a more nuanced sensibility for truth than I currently possess. So in good conscience I feel silly attacking your positions.

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I am moved and Thank you.

I usually find myself characterizing the content of discussion in a historical/evolutionary basis so I'll try to clarify without beating the horse into the ground.

I suspect that many would have difficulty with
Aquinas especially with the ontological proofs of God or anytime he reaches to the Godhead. Nowdays they simply aren't moved by such reasoning. And so, like you said, it appears that the premises are not agreed upon and in our time espoecially so. But there is more.

The ancient peoples had no difficulty conceiving with the gods, or God for in their life this world was as evident as your knowing that you breathe the air. In the Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Indian one does not some across this doubt as it is today. This is because in each of these civilizations there was, to a greater or lessser extent, a perception that this world was evident. The beginnings of this loss of perception would be seen in ancient Greece. I believe in the Iliad one of the hero's says"better a begger on earth then king of the shades". The intellect was being developed in Grecian times and consequential to this is this loss of spiritual perception. But the Greeks still had their gods which one could say were not as evident as , say, to the ancient Persion or Indian(read-Vedas).

So we have a gradual loss of this perception"twilight of the gods" which continued to our present time. Aquinas brought these manifestations into our time via the intellect. There was simply no need for an ontological proof for the ancient Greek for this would have appeared as foolishness to him. Likewise the Egyptian.

As usual, more questions arise, so please do not infer that I personally am saying that Zeus and Aphrodite are the way. The event at Golgotha is the singular most important event for all of the earth and mankind with Christianity just beginning and will not be totally understood untilthe new Jerusalem of the Revelation of John.