Hi all,
I think that many of you may already know about this little logical razor that I have derived from some of my comments, but I thought I'd share it with y'all in it's own OP, and see what you make of it:
Any religious argument that is structured in such a way that it requires one to already believe in a particular God(s) and see everything through the lens of a particular faith to begin with in order to appear even remotely sound (and thus exists merely to reinforce rather than actually convince) requires no further serious consideration, and is deemed to automatically fall flat.
In short, it basically says that you should not use circular reasoning when trying to defend a position, as it would only serve as nothing more than a shield for the already-convinced from that scary, dreaded doubt.
What are some other razors that you have come up with?
ADDENDUM 2/16/2019: After reading some of the comments on this thread about how razors are supposed to be short, I've shortened my razor:
Circular reasoning is no evidence.
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Here are the ten I have collected.
The Ten Razors:
Basically, a Razor should be short and sweet and straight to the point without having to use a paragraph. Just saying.
rmfr
@Rohan Razors are pretty much one liners.
Oh yeah... thanks for pointing that out. Here's my shortened version:
As a matter of fact, if there's a razor bargain sale going on then I want one too. @Arakish is there room for an 11th razor?
Just checked my database, I can still store up 65,536 Razors. Bring it on. Can always use a new one.
rmfr
Sounds good Rohan, now we gotta figure out how to get it down to a single sentence.
Another razor idea from me, still in rough draft:
Reality does not care what you believe. Does your belief pass the reality check?
@LogicFTW Awesome! Sounds excellent.
I just remembered one from one of my favorite authors.
Philip K. Dick's Razor: Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
rmfr
@ LogicFTW
Had a thought on your new one.
Original: Reality does not care what you believe. Does your belief pass the reality check?
My Screw Up: Reality does not care what you believe. Can your belief become reality?
As said, just a screwy thought that came to mind.
rmfr
@arakish
I like both, I will have it rattle around in my head for a bit see how I can improve upon it. Someone else can improve upon it and claim it as their own as well.
Circular arguments don't need a razor, they're going nowhere.
Oh yeah... all you have to do is spin the wheel of power, and circular reasoning will be exposed... but the reason why I made this razor is that if you really dig deep, you'll find that nearly all of the religious apologetic arguments ultimately boil down to circular reasoning.
Circular reason is certainly not a valid argument.
However, I would go a step further to say, even a valid argument is still not evidence. It's just an argument.