Atheism andHuman Knowledge Part IV www.dpl21.com

                   

Religion

which is  acknowledging the existence of Personal God and a God which somehow revealed Himself to humans  carries with it  a total picture  of the nature of man , his existential situation and his living relationship with the living God. The most essential aspect of religion is the fact that it  transforms not only human beings , the mode  of living  in time and space but also has implications for eternity . Humans are very much aware  of the  transitoriness  of  life and life's direction into the mystery of eternity . It is only in religion  where  humans can get direction and assurance of meaning of existence. Those fundamental questions  have somehow to be faced  by every normally developed human being . However we meet quite often people who do not show any  serious interest in such questions and also those who are positively hostile to any  implications of transcendent religious beliefs. Human beings are free to think their own way, to live in their own way and even  to choose  suicidal negation of life. The ways human beings relate  to the existence of God and religion   depend on  many   factors of their lives, the circumstances into which they are born and quite often have to live in , their mental development, their emotional   balance or luck of it, as well as  their destructive forces  somehow inscribed in their nature like  hatefulness desire to destroy  and kill,  irrational self-adoration, and even mental collapse.  Perhaps  the root of human misery is the irrational conviction that man does not need God and  does not want to acknowledge the transcendent  character of God's will for man . Another reason for atheistic thinking is the  lack of courage  to think for oneself and to be different  even if many others have their own  other views.  It seems easy to become a passive obedient conformist to the impersonal  pressure  of the many and  the imposed ways of living  structure of the society into which one is born and even accept unexamined religious beliefs . Thinking is by no  means an  easy way of finding  one's place within the context of the universe . It is important to remember also that  effective thinking requires ability to think logically  in order to arrive to  true conclusions. Of course all humans have a mind to think with  but there are other desires  inscribed in  human nature   and  passions  which very often  are more powerful than  reflection and thought .

           In modern times since  few centuries there developed  a new method of inquiry into nature : science  is this method and   the explosions of scientific accomplishment in very many areas of human concern are  admirable and beyond any criticism . We are living surrounded by  many things and gadgets every day  to such an extent that we hardly notice how much our lives are  different  from those of our ancestors. No wonder therefore that scientists of today  receive respect and are given complete trust without any hesitation. Many people  accept  uncritically almost any  facts or  theories  as long as they  have the label scientifically-proven. 

               However science  is basically  an attempt to submit all forces of nature for  service of human projects. Science is dealing only with  so called facts and is completely neutral to  values , meaning or the ultimate questions of the human mind . Science therefore  is not and  cannot be hostile to religious beliefs. Why?. Because as already pointed out it's concern is only with facts and nothing but facts. In itself science is not philosophy but only a gradual  and piecemeal  discovery of different various phenomena of nature. Any claim that science replaces  God  or makes God obsolete,  as some people like to claim, is based on misunderstanding. Contemporary science whether we talk about modern physics, astronomy , paleontology, biology or even psychology and psychiatry is not in any way against religious beliefs. As a matter of fact it contributes immensely to such beliefs. Such scientific theories like the big bang  theory (the beginning of the cosmos) the theory of the expanding universe or  the biological theory of evolution of life are  only broadening the human understanding  of the existential situation in which man finds himself.  It is only when science is turned into philosophy,  that it may become inimical  to religious beliefs. The atheistic attitude   in  philosophy   leads to  skepticism, scientific reductionism and materialism.  It is essential to remember that scientific  theories are never final or absolute. There always  exists the possibility of a new discovery and replacement of already accepted theory with another  more comprehensive and  more universal. From all this it follows that  science in itself can  only be  helpful for broadening of the human mind and is compatible with religious belief. It  is not  a valid argument against  religion.

            As already mentioned the achievements of science are beyond counting and the impact of science on everyday life is very deep . Man conquered space  by landing on the moon and soon enough  man will land on Mars . The progress in medicine   prolongs human life and will continue to prolong it. Future generations will live almost certainly far beyond the average  age  of life in our time and in many directions of inquiry man  will continue making progress. However  we also  realize the  possibilities of the darker side of  human nature  and the possibility of  atomic  war and the irreplaceable damage it can make  beyond any imagination .  It can even spell the end of mankind on this globe. Anyone who lived through most of the XX c. knows well the  terrible possibilities of organized total war. The  throwing of the atomic bomb in Japan   is a serious warning  against easy optimism about the future of mankind on this globe. This fact only stresses  the importance of moral development of man which sadly seems to be lacking in human beings.

            Our knowledge of  God is transcending  the scientific methods of inquiry. God is  Self-existing, Eternal Spirit Creator  of the whole universe  that is of  all contingent beings which as contingent  require  creative activity of God. Creation is a continuous reality  it is not something that happened in the past and  was completed in time because time itself and space was  co-created by God.  Since God is immaterial Spirit , He cannot be known in any scientific  experiment or seen under the microscope or telescope. We know God only in analogical way  on the philosophical level . However God of religion  is  a Personal God , mysterious and all perfect in Himself. God did not have to create  any finite being at all.  Neither there was any need to create.  When all is done and said  there  is      only one possible intelligible reason  why Creation happened and is continuously present:

              God is  Love and creation is a gift freely given not deserved in any way of course. Human beings therefore are  creatures and this word  describes them in a deepest sense . It means  complete and radical existential dependence of humans on God.  Since God is Love  He left freedom  for man even  to the point  of  abuse of this freedom, rejection of God Himself and hate directed  against Him. Since however God is Love  as long as  a person lives  there is  open possibility to reunite oneself to God.  This fact  of permanent possibility  of change  towards God is  beautifully  pictured  by  Christ's parable of the  Prodigal son.

            

           God did not  want to have  mechanical  robots  but  responsible free  self-determining persons  with their own  inherent dignity. Man   has therefore unconditional value  even for God  because he/she is the object of God's Love.  For instance  in Christian religion  God himself  so loved man that He  gave his only son who became human and  was exposed  to all the hate, rejection and persecution, suffering  during His life on earth. 

 

            Christ was called by his enemies a blasphemer, deceiver, devil , friend of publicans and sinners ,  glutton, mad , malefactor, sinner , thief, transgressor. But He also was called by other people Lord , Prophet , Righteous , Son of God.

He was condemned  by the religious leaders of the time , crucified, killed and buried . He  predicted    His death and resurrection.  Through  all those  sufferings and deeds Christ  accomplished  salvation   of all humanity , although to many  He remains completely unknown   or known only superficially or in distorted way. We should not be surprised about  the confusion about the mystery of redemption because even  when it comes to the nature of man we are constantly  guessing  who or what the human being is. We have  the man of evolution , we have the man in evolution , we have the economic man of Karl Marks, the psychological Man of Sigmund Freud , the existential man of Kierkegaard  and  we are  still in the dark because  those descriptions of man keep  constantly changing.  Our vision of the immensity of the universe , the age of  known cosmos and  the  short period  of existence of life,  evolution of  different form of life and  the still  shorter period  of the appearance of man  seemingly  reduce  man to very insignificant  being  depriving him of any  serious  dignity and meaning of his existence . This picture of man fits   atheistic  mentality, and some  existential philosophers. Often they  draw the conclusion  that human life   is not only insignificant but really  absurd.  If this is the case  then  it does not matter what you believe or what you do with  this absurd life because  it is radically meaningless and leads  nowhere. As already pointed out  methodical realism  is the best valid way to understand  reality surrounding us and our own position within the context of the universe. The  religious view of man and  his relationship to God the Creator  gives the  unchangeable and solid  foundation for the meaning of  life . It rejects  any philosophy or scientific attitude which deprives man of his dignity and destiny. Only human beings are aware of eternity and it is eternity which is open to man within the context of theistic  and religious  belief.  

        Therefore  Pantheism,  Panentheism , Materialism and  Skepticism all are  not really  sound  philosophies.  Methodical realism   and  metaphysical philosophy of being on the basis  of  the contingency  of all finite entities points to the existence of  God and  provides a philosophical underpinning  for theistic religion.

 

         God is  a personal God and  a Loving and Benevolent Creator . This  belief  creates   the problem of existence of evil in this world. By evil  we understand the natural  catastrophes like floods,  hurricanes, sudden earthquakes etc. which all affect human existence on earth. However    there is  also another source of evil and it comes from man  himself   for man is capable  of hate, destruction , murder and mass extinction of  his/her fellow humans  without even feeling  remorse of conscience.  All nations  on this globe live in constant tension and possibility of war. In every human life there is  some  amount of suffering  both emotional and      physical, there is  sickness,  aging  and inevitable death. The problem therefore can be  stated as follows:  

            1. If God is all good why is there evil in His creation?

            2. If God is omnipotent He  could have created a world without the evil so obvious in our experience.

             3. Therefore God is either evil and  created evil with the universe or He could not create a better world without the evil, therefore God does not deserve  worship and  dedication required by any true religion.

 

                          See: Atheism and the Problem of Evil

 

The Courage to Think For Yourself, philosophy/religion: Atheism and Human Knowledge PART III www.dpl21.com...

The Courage to Think For Yourself, philosophy/religion: Atheism and Human Knowledge PART III www.dpl21.com...:             Atheism is the categorical  denial of  the existence of any transcendent absolute reality. The atheists of course can simply...

Atheism and Human Knowledge PART III www.dpl21.com

  

        Atheism is the categorical  denial of  the existence of any transcendent absolute reality. The atheists of course can simply deny the existence of God on some emotional, irrational grounds and  stop right there. However it is not enough to simply state: "God does not exist." The atheist has to have some  valid arguments pointing to the  impossibility of   God's existence. And this fact  makes the problem of human knowledge very important to the existence of God. Briefly: Does belief in God involve a contradiction and  epistemological impossibility. Otherwise the question remains open, the most that can be said is  a confession of skepticism, that is we simply do not know and we will never know and that is that!.  To repeat again: It is  incumbent on an active atheist to show convincingly that belief in God is  intrinsically contradictory and  epistemologically impossible   not only as some contend  superfluous. This is why many modern atheists stress that only  science and the scientific experimental method can give us knowledge . Any other form of knowing , especially metaphysics is  by such an option already   rejected  as any way towards discovery of God.  A deep influence  here  was exercised on human minds by the  philosophy of David Hume and  following him Immanuel Kant. However a thorough analysis of  those philosophies   and  also idealistic  theories  of knowledge  would lead us too far from our topic. We therefore  already from the very beginning  adopt the  epistemological position of  methodical realism  and on the basis of it  we will develop the  existential arguments for the existence of God on the level of  the concept of being as such. This method  was developed  by Thomas Aquinas who followed  very substantially  Aristotle.

          To  the philosopher adopting  the epistemology  of methodical realism  the mind  is  a comprehensive  faculty able to understand and know  in some degree all reality as some form  or forms of existence or being . When for example I see a tree in the garden I have of course all the impressions given me by my five senses  with their limitations of course  . I say limitations because  if  I  had let say fifteen senses instead of a five I poses , certainly  the appearance  of  the surrounding world would be very different. My  seeing touching and feeling of a tree  is of course  confined to the sense perceptions  given to me  with my  bodily equipment. However  when I look at whatever object  somehow present to me through my sense perception I already am given  it's existence that is: I am confronted with some presence, some being  because I cannot  have even the slightest    perception of  something  that does  not exist simply. Because otherwise  if I go shopping and buy a carload of articles  I would have to be able to pay for it with non existing  money in my pocket. The absurdity of this is  clear and it does not need any elaboration. We all know that nothingness which is absolute non-existence of anything can never in any way be productive, and this in spite of  some  scientific atheists who have the courage to say that the universe came into existence out of nothingness. It was a " free lunch" out of nothing. 
        The human mind is an active power of knowing and is a knowing subject discovering whatever confronts it but is not   me in some way, and therefore is a broadening of the horizon of knowledge. Man therefore  and the human mind cannot be as David Hume would like to have it and defined man as :" a bundle of perceptions."     Man does not only  know  but knows that he knows . That is one of a fundamental beliefs of Rene Descartes. Kant  followed  the reflections of Hume , as he himself confessed that reading Hume awakened him from his metaphysical slumber. If  man is nothing but a bundle of perceptions then  only perceptions are available to him and therefore  Kant denied the intelligibility of being in itself : Ding an  Sich. 
            As already mentioned we shall follow the  theory of knowledge called methodical realism. This attitude is accepted by Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and modern Thomists like Jacques Maritain and Etienne  Gilson  among others. This brings us back to the  concept of being and the implications  following from it. Being can be defined as whatever  exists. The word exists here means  that it is actually  some reality confronting the  human mind. The concept of being therefore is the most universal   concept because it covers  all that exists in any way whatsoever.  The concept is  therefore  the richest  way of knowing  and it opens literally infinite horizons of knowledge. We must immediately stress here that the concept of being is analogical in it's nature . Because whatever exists does not only exist but it has some definite form of existence constitutive of it's whatness because the human mind does not only want to know  that something exists but also  what it is that exist. This is the ancient Aristotelian concept of form  accepted also by other already mentioned thinkers. The fact that the concept of being is analogical in  nature already indicates the  transcending character of  human knowledge. It means also that the dynamism of the human mind  is one and the same  in  pre-scientific knowing,  knowing on the level of science and knowing on the metaphysical level. Any philosophy  that limits  this one dynamic  activity of the mind is therefore  dogmatic and must lead to errors and misconceptions . For example in experimental sciences it appears as  scientific reduction-ism  and it leads to skepticism and finally materialism. Materialism  of course is part of atheistic attitudes  because  atheists  deny any reality to non material spiritual side of knowable  reality. The basic  fundamental dogma of atheism  is the belief  that whatever exists is matter in movement and  many scientists not only physicists but also biologists  like Richard Dawkins and his friends and also psychologists like behaviorists all try again and again to produce their " arguments" for this atheistic belief.  A classic example, to illustrate those efforts is the  attitude of  Richard Dawkins , Daniel Dennett, Lewis  Wolpert, Sam Harris , Victor Stenger and others . All belong to the same materialistic and atheistic   bend of mind. Richard Dawkins  is a zoologist and for him the fact of  evolution of life on this globe seems to be absolute  certainty  that  God is superfluous  and not only superfluous but  destructive and  evil  influence on many minds of believers. Religion  is  positively evil in itself  and nothing but destructive superstition which  produces division among people , hatred, and all this is done  in the name of  a non-existent God.      Dawkins  makes here a  very serious error in thinking : It is true  that some religious people indulge  in those  deviations  but  we must remember that it is human beings who do that and  therefore  it is  part of human finite  fragility and  bias towards narrowmindedness and egoistic  outlook on life. It is not part of any of the living religions  in our time.
           However we  have to  first focus our attention on  the horizon and possibility of human knowledge in relationship to the possibility  of a transcendent source of all existence on the level of  philosophical analysis  within the epistemology of  methodical realism. It is important to remember  that this is  a philosophy of being and the intelligibility of being, and the analogical character of all that can be called being . Analogy simply is the realization that beings are  partly  similar to each other and  partly different . For example a piece of rock exists therefore it is a being, and  Plato existed and was a being but   there was a  deep difference between the two beings: of the stone and Plato. Their being therefore was  analogical  partly similar and partly different.  This principle of analogy is  universal in metaphysical thinking and it  is an important vehicle of reaching to the  transcendent.
     In this world we are surrounded by all kinds  of beings  as already mentioned above  that  is our first observation.
    Second  there are many  beings .
   Third each of those beings is limited .
   Fourth each of those beings is  in itself only a possible being : it may exist but also  may not exist . For example when a human being dies the remains  are no more human  being and this principle applies to all finite beings  and we call this fact the contingency of all finite limited  beings. Contingency implies that  any finite being  does not possess  existence  by itself  or better of itself and therefore it needs  another being to make  it's own existence intelligible, but this is simply to say that  any finite being is  caused  in some  way by some other  being. This other  again is either contingent too or  it must finally point to some being  which has existence in it's very nature, that is  it is existence by itself and  therefore is  the source and cause  of  all finites entities.
             In short all finite beings  existing,  known  by humans,  have  their existence  ultimately from some One Transcendent source and cause. This One Source  and Cause  is transcendent, infinite  One. Both Plato and Aristotle and later on the medieval philosophers, especially  Thomas Aquinas saw in this  contingency of finite entities a fundamental pointer to the existence of  the Infinite One. The contingency  of  finite entities is of course very clear because given in experience . However it is important to  notice  that  it is an analogical mode of knowing. We do not have any direct knowledge of God. In short we know that the transcendent One  Being exists, that it has  existence of it's own,  but we don't know  the nature of this One Being.  Thomas Aquinas said : We  know that God exists, but we do not know what He is. As a First Cause this Infinite being is somehow also the source of all contingent reality. It is not important whether  the number of  contingent beings is infinite or somehow limited because  the gist of the argument is  the nature of those beings that is  their contingency, not how many contingent beings exist. The Aristotelian  Prime Mover is defined as mind thinking itself, absolutely independent in it's own existence and  not in any way related to the contingent world. It would be demeaning for the  Infinite Intelligence to be interested in the insignificant contingent entities. It is obvious now that Plato and Aristotle were very close in their thinking to the concept of God developed later by Thomas Aquinas  but we must remember that Thomas Aquinas was a Dominican monk, a Christian who tried  to give the philosophical foundation for the Christian faith. He did not however pretend  that his thinking is his own invention and was very clear to confess that he borrowed very much his ideas not only from Plato and Aristotle but also from Arabic thinkers too.

    To summarize  this part of our reflections we may say the following. The  very nature of contingent beings of the universe is  a permanent pointer toward existence of the One  Infinite Self-existent  transcendent  cause and source of all beings that are existing but are limited and finite and therefore are essentially dependent in existence on another. Ultimately this Other becomes the God in religion. Who would pray let say to Infinite Cause or Infinite Mind  wrapped  up in self-contemplation?. Such concepts may be  very close  to the Creator of the Deists later  in the XVIII and XIX centuries, but when it comes to true religious beliefs  the Transcendent One becomes   a Personal Jehovah  of the Judaic religion, the all forgiving, and loving Father of Jesus Christ in Christianity, the Allah of Islam and Brahman of the Hindus. In short Infinite, benevolent , omnipotent Creator who reveals Himself in some way or other to humans  and  reveals His plans for human beings,  and gives instructions  how humans should live on earth  so that they maybe received by the loving God  to eternal  existence with him in some way.   Every religion is some kind of unity between  humans and God. This last point is the very basis and central fact on which the whole building of Christianity rests: in  the teacher of Nazareth His birth, teaching death, and resurrection God is present in human form and  redeemed man from the slavery to sin and evil and eternal death.

          AT this point we are in the center of what we already mentioned in this article that there are two sources of religious beliefs and pointed out that revelation is fundamental to all genuine religion. But here we face a number of objections against the religious concept of  God, the ways God is worshiped by some religions, and even  the very rationality of any religious belief whatsoever . Some objections which we shall analyze ,  are made in the name of science , other objections from  the existential  impact of religious belief on human existence and human life.
                     For more elaboration of this topic please visit my website or contact me for  discussion.      


  



  



Atheism and Human Knowledge Part II www.dpl21.com

         

        It  is impossible to evaluate the position of atheism in modern times without analyzing  the  nature of human knowledge and our knowledge of God. Therefore we must first keep in mind that there are basically two sources of knowledge of God.

       (a) The philosophical arguments for the existence of some transcendent  Source of all reality  like the idea of the Highest Good in Plato, the idea of the First Mover and the First Cause in Aristotle  and also the development of Thomistic philosophy which to a great extend is an adaptation of Aristotelian thought to the basic dogmas of Christian  religion. This would be the philosophical underpinning of  religious faith.  The great systems of Plato, Aristotle or Thomas Aquinas are based on the acceptance of  intelligibility of all being as such and they are metaphysical   in nature.  

        (b) The second and more fundamental source of religious belief is based on revelation. Revelation is the unveiling  of God himself to human beings and  therefore  humans are given some insight into the nature of God, His will and  purposes and also their  relationship to  God's purposes and intentions. For example to be a Christian does not necessarily demand philosophical knowledge of God. One believes because  in the person of  Jesus Christ God  became  a human being , human in all things human except  sin. Christ therefore  is the revelation of God  in  the most  possible way  identified with the  suffering servant  of  the Father. Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection  is God's  salvific  lifting every believer to the state of adapted child of God with the promise of eternal life after physical death and future  resurrection for eternity. As pointed out above, the Christian believer does not have to be a philosopher, but St. Paul  insists  very clearly that a Christian must be able to  give some reasons why he/she believes, that is must be able to defend  his commitment  to the message and promises of Christ.

          Let's analyse first the philosophical  knowledge of God and it's possibility . This problem is extremely important  especially after the modern  atheists which  deny any  possibility even  of  proving  the rationality of believing in God. The  widely spread  belief of modern scientists and also some philosophers is that only  scientific methods  are fruitful  ways of any knowledge whatsoever. This position  leads directly   to scientific reductionism , rejection of any metaphysical  thinking , to skepticism  and quite often crude materialism. This attitude  is not only  part of modern physics but also  psychology,  psychiatry and  biology with the propagated theory of evolution of all life in the Darwinian way of understanding. Ultimately this dogmatic scientific attitude  leads to the conviction that science  alone will soon  explain all phenomena of nature without any need  for some transcendent or Divine reality. 

         According to this way of thinking  science  supposedly deals only with bear facts (phenomena) and it  does not  show any interest in values of man, meaning of human existence or  destiny of individual persons. Briefly the  whole area most personal and  essential for every reflecting human being  is  a neglected field of interest. 

          Human beings are not only interested  in for example   how many new galaxies were recently discovered by some astronomer or whether  our solar system is doomed to thermal death in  perhaps several billion of years. Those are scientific facts but they do not touch the deepest questions , like  who am I ? , why do I exist? what happens when I die? Is there any sense i  praying to some God if we don't know if He even exists? It certainly would be nonsense  to pray  or make any sacrifices if  there is nothing but matter in space-time. Nor  is there any  solid reason for moral values of any kind apart from  sophisticated selfishness  during this short  journey from the womb of a woman to the womb of mother earth. As Dostoevsky once remarked : If God does not exist everything is allowed!. What did he have in mind when saying this is easy to understand : without some transcending Divine authority  the  human values are reduced only to the level of  the human way of behavior and consequently very often the moral values will be simply turned into some ideological tool of human domination of  one group of people who happen to be in power over those who are considered  undesirable  elements in the society. A classic  example of  this fact is  the  history repeated again and again of  mass extinction organized by  such movements like for example Hitlerism , Stalinism and so many others. We don't have to agree with Dostoevsky in many other things he said but here he certainly was right. The philosophy of Thomas Hobbes : "Homo homini lupus " should not be forgotten or else  we lose a realistic vision of man and his  dark sides and destructive instincts .

         We mentioned already that in our analysis of human knowledge we must remember always the dynamism of the human mind and the basic presuppositions  of any true inside into reality. In practice this means  that a modern scientist, a physicist, an anthropologist or  a paleontologist does not have to be a schizophrenic when he  does his scientific work but also is a believer       in God  and participates in some religious rituals . Why so ?. Because he has the same human mind  like anybody else which he uses rationally and fully in both situations: as a scientist and a believer. This is important to remember   when one is confronted with all those who say that science replaces the concept of God and makes God obsolete  because the scientific method shall  explain all questions of man in a rational way without any need  for belief   in any kind of  transcendent  reality, spiritual in nature . For such people  all is  nothing else but matter in movement and change and any questions for something else  like for example the mental  aspects of reality are superfluous and outdated. Those trends in modern thinking must be  corrected and there is only one way of doing this by a very thorough analysis  what is  knowing in itself.

         Any analysis whatsoever  starts with some  basic assumptions from a definite vantage point . Here we assume that man exists, that he has  an active mind  and  he is able to know reality  following  basic given principles  of knowledge. Those principles are self evident  statements,  which do not admit serious doubt : the principle  that  nothingness can never produce anything real, that whatever exists must have sufficient reason for it's existence, that nothing can  exist and not exist  at the same time  under the same respect, that in order to  know  somehow  reality the mind must follow logical method  of discovery.  This  therefore  will be our starting point of analysis. We do it to avoid  idealism , materialism , skepticism and  scientific reductionism. The level on which we shall move is  the knowledge of being and it's intelligibility .  When  later on we shall  discuss some  religious  modes of understanding the human situation,  we must be careful  to avoid such  views  like: panenteism,pantheism and  anthropomorphic  understanding and distortions of the idea of God. But now let's apply our  basic presumption in knowledge and discuss them on the existential level. The approach we shall adopt  can be  described as methodical realism . The central  concept here is the concept of being  and  the  ability of the human mind to understand  being  in it's all forms  available to human insight.     

     In passing let's just notice  that the  ancient  and  medieval thinkers like  Socrates, Plato , Aristotle or Thomas Aquinas never doubted  the  capacity of understanding  the ultimate  reality  by the human mind. The  doubt  developed  in modern times with Rene Descartes, who  applied his methodical doubt to all knowledge including  his own existence and then  somehow  rediscovered it : " I think therefore I am." This  sentence  has been repeated later on  by many philosophers  especially the Cartesians. However  was it really such a big discovery? One  immediately can see that  Descartes would not be able  to say anything or doubt anything unless  he first already existed. It brings into the mind a little story: In philosophy class  when a student asks the professor : " How do I know I exist?  The professor simply says : "Who is asking?." That means if you did not exist you would not be able to ask such a question. Read Part III

Atheism and Human Knowledge Part I -www.dpl21.com

         

There exists a spreading belief among a number of atheists that human beings are products of evolution. Human   knowledge  is only a higher degree  of  knowing which is on a lower level  present also in other  pre-human forms of life. The classic definition of man known to  the ancient philosophers is homo sapiens as  rational animal. Atheistic biologists ( Richard Dawkins  and his friends) consider man somewhat higher developed animal , descendant  on the ladder of evolution of the great apes.

         There is no denying that pre-human animals posses a degree of psychism  and they are  able to make situational judgments . Animals  have  social life , they build nests , shelters etc, they hunt in groups, they defend their young  and also use stones  or sticks as tools  of reaching the food. That is why we said they are capable of  situational judgments. Of course animals can be trained and have been trained by humans for their human needs and entertainment (circus). All this makes many  zoologists and biologists  to believe that there is no  any  deeper difference between man and  other forms of life. In their view humans  are only a link on the  ladder of evolution and  it is doubtful whether what we are today is  the last and the best form of homo sapiens. Perhaps future humans will be far  higher in their development not only on the biological level but also the psychic endowments and their knowledge will be incomparably higher than at our stage of life. Nevertheless it is  obvious that non human animals  do not make any tools of their own , do not show any progress  in their essential instinctual behavior  or any new inventiveness . Briefly they do not grow mentally.

           On the other hand  human beings and only human beings live  with awareness of death that is the knowledge that they certainly must die. Only human beings  use their knowledge and become physicians, scientists, philosophers and so on. Only human beings distinguish between mentally healthy persons and those who suffer mental disabilities of some sort. Only within the horizon of human existence we find  churches, temples , libraries, hospitals, museums, cemeteries and so on. The human drive to know extends towards the  Absolute that is God.

            Most importantly humans only developed  conceptual  knowledge and use propositional language, therefore  they are capable of rational discourse. Humans  developed technology , politics , history and other forms of   discovering reality.

           Only humans  developed ritualistic practices and religious forms of worship. Humans  have moral conscience:  a sense of right and wrong  and of ethical values. Only humans  experience  the ecstasy of  beauty. Aesthetic values  are important in human life. Only within the sphere of human life   there is  sharp awareness of  difference between criminals and saints , cowards and heroes , selfish monsters and  loving selfless individuals. Only humans  are ready very often to freely give their physical life for their beliefs especially their religious belief, however not only religious in nature. Only humans  are obstinate truth seekers and ready also  for the greatest sacrifices to discover the truth and later on to defend it. Only humans are seekers  for  the meaning  of existence itself: Why do I exist? Why should I go on living?  What is the end or purpose of my life and what should I do with it? Only humans feel responsible for what they do with their lives and   experience remorse of conscience for failure to  live up to the moral ideals.

        The above characteristics of man are  given  to observation and they do not leave any room for doubt. Therefore it seems  clear that human beings  although they are  one link on the ladder of evolution nevertheless they are unique in their nature and  different in kind not only degree  from the other  forms   of pre-human  higher animals.  This by which  man  differs  is obviously  the inner dynamism  of his drive to know. Therefore  at this point we  must analyze the  question what is knowledge and  especially what is human knowledge. 

        There is  and there always was a number of different answers to the above question what is knowledge. Depending on  how  the question is answered   the whole vision of reality changes radically for example if  we follow the criticism of David Hume and later Immanuel Kant, and  the  German idealists  we can easily get lost in our quest and  fall into skepticism which in turn  leads to  resignation from the effort of searching for truth. 

                  The crucial  problem lies in the question how much can the human mind comprehend  and what is the meaning of the word to know. The  dynamism of the human mind towards knowing itself is not questioned. What is at stake  is the range of intelligibility of reality  available to the human mind.  What kind of knowing leads to  truth and what kind of truth is open to human inquiry. Can the dynamism of knowing transcend  the senses alone.  Methodical realism stands on the ground that there is a universal intelligibility of all reality conceived under the   concept of being as such. Whatever can be defined as "It is"  is comprehensible in some way to the human mind. and here we  see the divergence of the question of knowledge. The scientific method which produced  so many marvelous results is by many understood as the only way  to know. The criterion  of truth  is experiment  and repeatability .   The scientist discovers  some  regularity of  material agents and  creates a hypothesis  then he/she shares  his/her discovery with scientists within the same branch of inquiry . If  his/her finding is confirmed  by the experimentation of his/her colleagues  then   the hypothesis becomes a theory. No scientific theory however is  absolute or final   it can be modified or even replaced  by another theory  when  new and unknown facts are discovered. Most scientists believe that science as such is only interested in facts: questions of meaning or values is not in the province  of science. Therefore it is obvious that science as such is absolutely neutral to the most  fundamental questions  of human beings. For example:  does God exist or not?, why is there universe at all? what is  the meaning of my existence here and now?.  Such questions  cannot be definitely answered by any scientific theory. Because this theory which is accepted  may  simply be discarded with the progress of scientific discoveries.   

          Aristotle already said,  many centuries ago..." all men by nature desire to know."   The  drive to know is therefore not limited only to what  senses alone give the knower . The most universal   concept is the concept of being  and  it  in some way covers all  reality whatsoever. The human mind is an active power in man, that means  that it operates in very strict ways governed by fundamental principles of  logic  and experience. Man not only knows but he/she knows that he knows that means the act of knowing is  transcendent by it's very nature.  This fact cannot be denied and if it is denied then the  act of knowledge is arbitrarily   truncated.  This fact  is  extremely important  for any reflecting human being. It envelops  man within the narrow confines  of  sense experimentation. For many  this  means  the  attitude of  radical doubt relative to the ultimate questions  leading to skepticism , scientism and finally  narrow materialism.
         As pointed out the very act of knowledge  is transcendent  in itself. Sense data are of course necessary but  there are no  pure sense data . When for example I see a tree in the garden I can go closer touch it , push it or manipulate  it  in other ways, I do not     only    have  appearances of pure senses, I am in a presence of being  in some form , therefore I can analyze   it according to  the basic principles of the mind and sound logic. Some of those principles are obvious because they are fundamental   for the activity of the mind: For example the principle of non contradiction, the principle of sufficient reason. the principle  of causality, the principle of contingency, to name a few only. Without transcending and metaphysical  reflection there simply is no valid and solid truth available to humans.
          Some scientists   seem to   disregard  the fundamental ways the human mind operates. One can hear such statements by well known physicists like for example:"...the universe came into existence out of nothing". and such statement somehow is repeated by others ! Nothingness is  absolute absence of any shadow of being even and it is absolutely certain that nothingness cannot in any rational way be understood as productive of being.

             The question of the existence of some transcendent reality can be answered within the context of philosophy of being and the use of the concepts of analogy of being. Any search for the ultimate source of all finite existence begins with observation of the finitude and the limitations   of beings within our experience here and now. The  obvious fact of change against stability the  fact of becoming needs intelligible explanation. Some things do not exist, then exist for a while, and then don't exist again. It is easily observable fact. Where    are  all the people who lived on this globe   several  hundred of years ago?.

         The fact of change on the level of existence we call the contingency of finite beings. All  finite beings are contingent that is, they do not have the sufficient reason for their existence in themselves. Therefore they must receive existence  from some other being since nothingness does not produce any reality whatsoever. Because   finite beings have no sufficient reason  for their existence in themselves, but still they exist, there  necessarily must be at least one being which has existence  by  itself: the being as Thomas Aquinas would say " by itself," this is the  pointer towards the existence of  Transcendent Reality. Here we touch  the Platonic concept of God as Highest Idea of Good as well as the Aristotelian concept of the "prime mover " and also the  Deistic   God of the XVIII  century philosophers.

                 This  line of thinking creates the  philosophical underpinning  of  the religious concept of the monotheistic religions. It is clear that a God  who is interested only in his own thought (Aristotle) or who is only the first cause of all existence is not  satisfying the human  search for ultimate meaning of existence. Only if  revelation of  God to humans ever happened then such God would  represent  the  fulfillment of the human search for meaning . Revelation therefore is a necessary  requirement for a truly religious concept of God. Among the living monotheistic religions,  Christianity is par excellence  a revealed,  active union between God and men: God in search for man, and men's responding to God's initiative   of  offered to him salvation and eternal blissful existence  if man freely answers to God's initiative  in the person of God-Man in the life actions , death resurrection and the promises of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

           Man is not just mind and reason , he is of flesh and blood  instinctual potent passions and  he also is free  to search for truth or simply neglect the ultimate question of human existence .

           There are  all kinds of atheists. Some of them are convinced atheists and  aggressively attacking any sort of religion as source of evil , superstition  and   inimical to reason  and truth. There are atheists who are essentially skeptics . Their basic attitude is  that it is impossible to answer the ultimate questions. There are also  those who simply never think about  God, religion or any such realities. They are busy with their everyday concerns and  never really feel a serious need to reflect on the ultimate issues. There are also those who believed in childhood or their early young years but then for some or other reason get alienated from religion or believing in God. Their idea of God is  usually erroneous  and loaded with negative emotional feelings to whatever is related to religion.

                        In many cases the source of the atheistic attitude is the result of ignorance of the idea of God and also  desire for complete fulfillment here on earth. People like this are not interested  in what God wants and in His will but what they want. They manipulate  God with their so called prayers. If they receive what they desire  well and good, but  when things get complicated and when suffering,  disease and tragedy strike ,  they accuse God of cruelty and evil commandments. True religion like for example Christianity imposes very real and difficult demands on the believer. It calls  for complete and  absolute subjection to the providence of the Creator and Redeemer no matter what happens in this life here and now and how difficult it becomes to be faithful to what their religion requires. It is important to remember that man is in his very nature self-centered   and  the egoism and rejection of true dependence on God's will is always open possibility for humans.

           Atheism seems to lift the burden  of moral  effort and self control and also unwavering faithfulness. Faith  always was, and always will be impossible without God's assistance. That is why atheism seems to be a liberating experience  giving independence and freedom to follow one's own  desires no matter how immoral they may feel. Manmade morality without the foundation in God's will  is necessarily subject to error, deviation and darkness.