Atheists in this forum. Do you claim objectivity?

[JayDeist]

Dianaiad stated that I could not find three atheists on this forum that did not believe there views were objective.

So the question for this debate. Atheists, do you believe your views are objective?

[Flail]

Zzyx wrote:

The theistic claim that their views are "objective" because they come from the subjective writings of unidentified ancient storytellers is invalid because the source cannot be shown to be from anything more than imagination.

I agree that all views and opinions are subjective. Since they emanate from us they could not be otherwise. The anonymous sources for BibleGod are multi-subjective; opinions piled as hearsay one upon the other to then be paraded as truth by propagandists, and reinforced by ubiquitous hand gestures, kneelings and chantings, all rolled into one mighty membership requirement that begs for revenue. To claim absolute and objective truths from such nonsense as if they emanate from a supernatural being is immoral. This, at least, is my subjective opinion. When it comes to 'God' who could ask for anything more?

[JayDeist]

I appreciate everyone's posts. I have always had a firm stance against unverified objectivity. I wanted clarify the stance of most atheists on this forum. I misstated yesterday, and accidentally made a generalization about atheists. Diana called me on it, lol. She stated though, that the lack of relevant subjectivity was the same as objectivity of their own view. She stated that atheists aren't as subjective about other points of view, and lumped that into the category as being objective. I believe these are two vastly different statements. So I wanted to ask, how subjective are atheists about other points of view, namely, theists points of view. Do most atheists in this forum feel theistic views are as subjective as their own? I still feel this is vastly different than having an objective point of view, but wanted to ask and see how many responses I get.

[McCulloch]

I am an atheist and a skeptic. I recognize objectivity to be the ideal towards which I strive. But I also realize that sometimes I fall short of the mark. So, while perhaps some of my views may be subjective, I am not aware of any subjectivity in my views and upon becoming aware of any subjectivity, I will do my utmost to correct that failing.

[Zzyzx]

.

Diana called me on it, lol. She stated though, that the lack of relevant subjectivity was the same as objectivity of their own view. She stated that atheists aren't as subjective about other points of view, and lumped that into the category as being objective. I believe these are two vastly different statements. So I wanted to ask, how subjective are atheists about other points of view, namely, theists points of view. Do most atheists in this forum feel theistic views are as subjective as their own? I still feel this is vastly different than having an objective point of view, but wanted to ask and see how many responses I get.

I see no way to be anything OTHER than "subjective about other points of view". All anyone (Theist, Atheist, Agnostic, Non-Theist, etc) can do in relation to the views of others is have an opinion or reaction. By definition, opinions and reactions are subjective. How could they be anything else?

[Janx]

Every atheists in this thread stated that their opinion is subjective. That is fine in a philosophical sense but certainly not in a practical sense. Stating that atheism is subjective is like giving live ammunition to children.

"There is no evidence for God" is an objective statement. Without being able to demonstrate God the concept remains subjective. Atheism is the position that there is a place here in the objective world that remains empty because God hasn't stepped into it.

The Atheist position on God is objective.

[Autodidact]

Dianaiad stated that I could not find three atheists on this forum that did not believe there views were objective.

So the question for this debate. Atheists, do you believe your views are objective?

No.

[Mithrae]

It's certainly not a complete or deeply considered list, but this is how I'd break down my views. Note that objectivity doesn't equate with extensive knowledge, depth of thought or correctness.


Completely objective views/opinions/knowledge:
Maths, logic, woostafooglebist

Highly objective views/opinions/knowledge:
Science, language, undisputed 'facts' about recent history or society

Fairly balanced objective/subjective perspective:
Philosophy, points of 'fact' regarding history or society

Fairly subjective views/opinions/knowledge:
Religion, political views, psychology

Highly subjective views/opinions/knowledge:
Music, literature, leisure activities, morals, interpersonal relations, the criteria I use for weighing evidence

Completely subjective views/opinions/knowledge:
That the rest of the world exists, woostafooglebist

[Liquid Lion]

Dianaiad stated that I could not find three atheists on this forum that did not believe there views were objective.

So the question for this debate. Atheists, do you believe your views are objective?

As I see it, my views are by definition subjective. The assumed truths which they represent might very well be objective, and I strongly believe them to be so. This however does not mean that the views themselves are also objective. They are after all dependent on me as a subject.

[Question Everything]

I am an atheist and a skeptic. I recognize objectivity to be the ideal towards which I strive. But I also realize that sometimes I fall short of the mark. So, while perhaps some of my views may be subjective, I am not aware of any subjectivity in my views and upon becoming aware of any subjectivity, I will do my utmost to correct that failing.

This basically sums up my answer, and I think that the best way to correct that failing is to start out by realizing that you are subjective. This is why science has peer review. The idea is to weed out personal prejudices and biases by subjecting your work to the criticism of others so that different subjective viewpoints cancel each other out and objectivity is left. There are times when this doesn't work, nothing is perfect, but over time this process will get us closer to objective truth than anything else we can do.

Finding out that you were wrong about something is a big part of doing science. People with strong egos rarely make good scientists.

[charris]

Do I believe there are objective facts about the world? Yes.
Do I know all of these facts? Absolutely not. All I can do is try.