| haff1991 |
| Posted 05/29/12 at 10:31 PM | Reply with quote #1 |
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I'm looking for a good definition of this fallacy. It is a fallacy that all philosophers believe in or something that Christians use against those who don't believe in God? I've looked for a good definition on here and want to study this more, but so far I have not found what I am looking for. Any leads? Thanks in advance!
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| Tetelestai |
| Posted 05/30/12 at 06:24 AM | Reply with quote #2 |
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I am not in a position to give you a proper definition (it is an informal logical fallacy after all) but would like to point out the fact that the term was coined by an atheist philosopher! (Quentin Smith if memory serves me well)
The philosopher in question did this in response to other atheists charging that we do not need an explanation for the existence in the universe. His reasoning was basically that we have an explanation for anything else that exists. As an example:
- A ball. Clearly someone made it
- Moving bigger, a continent. we know some forces were at work shaping continents
- Moving bigger, a planet. We have very good scientific explanations of how planets were formed
- Moving bigger, a solar system. Same as a planet.
- Moving bigger, a galaxy. Same as above.
- Moving bigger, a universe. At this point, the philosopher argues that (and I am paraphrasing from memory) "you cannot dissmiss the universe like a hack once you've arrived at your destination." Hence it being called the taxicab fallacy to deny you need an explantion for the universe.
I'm don't know if the taxicab fallacy is used in other areas as well. Doubt it.
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| mazzgolf |
| Posted 05/30/12 at 08:10 AM | Reply with quote #3 |
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I don't know who the contemporary philosopher was - but the concept of the taxi cab fallacy comes from the 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (he was an atheist).
See the Defenders 2 podcast where Dr. Craig discusses the "taxi cab fallacy" and mentions Schopenhauer:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/defenders-2-podcast/transcript/s4-2
To quote that transcript:
Quote: "This response commits what one contemporary philosopher has aptly called the “taxi cab fallacy.” This is based upon a remark by the 19th century atheist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer pointed out that you cannot dismiss this principle enunciated in premise 1 like a hack when you have arrived at your desired destination. That would be arbitrary. You cannot say that everything has an explanation of its existence and then suddenly exempt the universe from this demand. That would be simply arbitrary."
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| Tetelestai |
| Posted 05/30/12 at 08:24 AM | Reply with quote #4 |
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Haha, so my paraphrased quote was actually WLC writing about the taxicab fallacy. And there you have it, I was wrong about the philosopher.
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| haff1991 |
| Posted 05/30/12 at 09:22 AM | Reply with quote #5 |
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Thanks for the information!
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