What about deism? (Introduction)

by Cary Cook , Friday, June 20, 2008, 00:54 (5790 days ago) @ dhw

If you can't believe that a particular thing exists, and you can't believe it doesn't exist, then I need a definition of what you mean by "believe".
If you mean your mind can't conceive of it, I agree; mine can't either. But either something is eternal, or something came from nothing. There's no third alternative. - You said, "But one of these unbelievables is true." 
If you know that one of two things is true, are you not forced to believe(1) one of them?
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>Perhaps "unbelievable" is a better term than "impossible", although in both cases I'd have to add "for me". - It's legitimate to add "for me" to "unbelievable".
It's not legitimate to add "for me" to "impossible".
Belief is subjective; possibility is objective. It's extremely important to make this distinction. Much philosophical confusion is due to failure to distinguish subjective from objective.
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>I'm not a gambling man. - We're all gambling men. You can refuse to bet on either X or not-X. But that just means you're betting that you can refuse to bet on either X or not-X. Every step you take is a bet that you won't fall thru the ground. The principles by which you conduct your life are proof that you bet on those principles. - If you mean you don't take unnecessary gambles, I have no objection.