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Absence of evidence, evidence of absence and the atheist's teapot

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Absence of evidence, evidence of absence and the atheist's teapot. / Garvey, Brian.
In: Ars Disputandi : the Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion , Vol. 10, No. n/a, 11.05.2010, p. 9-22.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Garvey, B 2010, 'Absence of evidence, evidence of absence and the atheist's teapot', Ars Disputandi : the Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion , vol. 10, no. n/a, pp. 9-22. <http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000339/index.html>

APA

Garvey, B. (2010). Absence of evidence, evidence of absence and the atheist's teapot. Ars Disputandi : the Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion , 10(n/a), 9-22. http://www.arsdisputandi.org/publish/articles/000339/index.html

Vancouver

Garvey B. Absence of evidence, evidence of absence and the atheist's teapot. Ars Disputandi : the Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion . 2010 May 11;10(n/a):9-22.

Author

Garvey, Brian. / Absence of evidence, evidence of absence and the atheist's teapot. In: Ars Disputandi : the Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion . 2010 ; Vol. 10, No. n/a. pp. 9-22.

Bibtex

@article{2955d66928ef432d94fa267938521252,
title = "Absence of evidence, evidence of absence and the atheist's teapot",
abstract = "Atheists often admit that there is no positive evidence for atheism. Many argue that there is nonetheless a prima facie argument, which I will refer to as the {\textquoteleft}teapot argument{\textquoteright}. They liken agnosticism to remaining neutral on the existence of a teapot in outer space. The present paper argues that this analogy fails, for the person who denies such a teapot can agree with the person who affirms it regarding every other feature of the world, which is not the case with the atheist vis-a-vis the theist. The atheist is committed to there being an alternative explanation of why the universe exists and is the way it is. Moreover, the analogy relies on assumptions about the prior plausibility of atheism. Hence, the teapot argument fails.",
keywords = "Atheism, Agnosticism, Russell's Teapot",
author = "Brian Garvey",
year = "2010",
month = may,
day = "11",
language = "English",
volume = "10",
pages = "9--22",
journal = "Ars Disputandi : the Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion ",
issn = "1566-5399",
number = "n/a",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Absence of evidence, evidence of absence and the atheist's teapot

AU - Garvey, Brian

PY - 2010/5/11

Y1 - 2010/5/11

N2 - Atheists often admit that there is no positive evidence for atheism. Many argue that there is nonetheless a prima facie argument, which I will refer to as the ‘teapot argument’. They liken agnosticism to remaining neutral on the existence of a teapot in outer space. The present paper argues that this analogy fails, for the person who denies such a teapot can agree with the person who affirms it regarding every other feature of the world, which is not the case with the atheist vis-a-vis the theist. The atheist is committed to there being an alternative explanation of why the universe exists and is the way it is. Moreover, the analogy relies on assumptions about the prior plausibility of atheism. Hence, the teapot argument fails.

AB - Atheists often admit that there is no positive evidence for atheism. Many argue that there is nonetheless a prima facie argument, which I will refer to as the ‘teapot argument’. They liken agnosticism to remaining neutral on the existence of a teapot in outer space. The present paper argues that this analogy fails, for the person who denies such a teapot can agree with the person who affirms it regarding every other feature of the world, which is not the case with the atheist vis-a-vis the theist. The atheist is committed to there being an alternative explanation of why the universe exists and is the way it is. Moreover, the analogy relies on assumptions about the prior plausibility of atheism. Hence, the teapot argument fails.

KW - Atheism

KW - Agnosticism

KW - Russell's Teapot

M3 - Journal article

VL - 10

SP - 9

EP - 22

JO - Ars Disputandi : the Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion

JF - Ars Disputandi : the Online Journal for Philosophy of Religion

SN - 1566-5399

IS - n/a

ER -