Quote, Er, Argument of the Day, by clamat

I do think it’s fair to say New Atheists favor science and are suspicious of philosophy generally, and theology in particular. To my mind, there are several good reasons for this.

Like me, I suspect most New Atheists grew up seeing and benefitting from the ever-increasing fruits of science. It’s been said a million times, but I don’t think it can be over-emphasized: Science works. Science produces things. Philosophy and theology, on the other hand, seem only to produce more and more words.

Neither ever seem to resolve anything. Witness the debate over Thomism vs. Scotism...I’ll admit to knowing very little about either, but I do know that Duns Scotus died around 1300, about 40 years after Aquinas. Can you think of a significant scientific dispute that remains no closer to being resolved after 700 years? Shit, philosophers still debate Euthyphro.

Another example:

At least 4/5 of the medical profession thought that Louis Pasteur was a raving lunatic about antiseptic practices.

But Pasteur was a scientist, not a philosopher. And within only a few decades of years the doubting four-fifths had come around, and Pasteurization was ubiquitous around the world. So I put it to you – in how many years can we expect Thomas’ Fifth Proof, or the Kalaam, or the Argument from Reason – or even just Dualism, for cripe’s sake! -- to be accepted with similar unanimity?

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