Topics Logic

Question Theist: We should follow the Bible, and the Bible says that there is a God. Atheist: Why should we follow the Bible? Theist: Because the Bible says we should. Atheist: That’s circular reasoning. But then the Atheist says: We shouldn’t believe in God. Here’s logic to show he doesn't exist. Me: Why should we follow logic? Atheist: We’ve come to the conclusion that logic, and not the Bible, is right by using logic. Me: Is this not also circular reasoning? Someone please tell me why I’m wrong. Also, if I just disproved the validity of logic but used logic to disprove it, does that mean my argument is no longer valid because it’s based on logic, which is no longer valid. But if my claim is no longer valid that disproved logic, does that mean that logic is ok now. But then, that would mean that my argument is still ok, which means that… I think you get the idea. Someone please tell me why I’m wrong before my head explodes.

Accepted:
January 5, 2009

Comments

Fair enough, you cannot support logic by appeal to logic. But this does not disprove logic. It just shows that one attempt to justify logic is unsuccessful.

How then do we justify logic, or the Bible for that matter? You seem to think of justification as starting with nothing -- and then it's indeed hard to see how anything can ever be justified. But in real life, when we justify, or question, something we always take other things for granted: other beliefs, modes of inquiry, methods of reasoning, and so on. Each of them can be questioned too, of course, but we cannot question all of them together at once. Nothing justifies our thinking as a whole, though every part of it can be justified (or disqualified) by its fit (or incoherence) with the rest. If logic (or the Bible) makes sense to you and helps you make sense of the world, then you have a good justification for continuing to rely on it. If you find incoherence in logic, or between logic and something else you have been relying on, then you need to find a way of revising some of your commitments in order to resolve the incoherences.

So, think of justification not as something you need to start thinking, but as something you need to revise the way you think.