ATHEISTS: Do you only believe in TANGIBLE things?

Question

by tangible, I mean things that can be "seen under a microscope", touched, studied, measured, etc.

How about untangibles, such as: truth, person, justice, beauty, love, etc... I am right to say that we acknowledge that these things exist even if they can't be seen. Personally, I think that those values all point to the source--God.
Comments?

Answer 1

"truth, justice, beauty, love" these are subjective and change with the times. They only exist in the mind, same as god.

Answer 2

I'm agnostic, but still wish to give you my answer....



You mean intangibles, rather than untangibles.....



Beauty can be seen.

Love (like other emotions) can be felt.

Justice can be meted out.

Truth is an absolute, a function of logic.



To some degree, all these things really are "tangible" even if they do not have substance or mass. They are not necessarily tied to God in any way.



I have seen and experienced all of the things you mention, and acknowledge that all "exist". I have not seen or experienced anything that demonstrates to me that God exists or is the one responsible for man being on Earth, etc...nor do I have any proof that God doesn't exist.

Answer 3

I've never met an atheist who says they only believe in the tangible - that would be stupid. There are many, many things which clearly exist but are not, strictly speaking, tangible. What the atheists I know say is they only believe in things for which there is evidence. That's not the same thing. There are forms of evidence other than being able to see, touch or hold something. I know love exists because I can feel it myself - that's evidence. I can also observe other people's actions reflecting love - couples making sacrifices and compromises to stay together for decades, parents making sacrifices for their children, children taking care of their elderly parents...that's evidence too.

Answer 4

As an atheist, I don't enjoy the luxury of belief. "Belief" literally means to accept something as true without substantiating evidence, and that is something I would never do. I "know" some things, I "think" about others, I even have an "opinion" or two. What I never do is "believe in" anything, because belief represents a deliberate abdication of reason and logic.



It is easy to know that tangible things are real because they actually exist in objective physical reality. The intangibles you list do not actually have their own independent existence because they are all merely properties of of some other object which actually does exist. In other words, they are abstractions. For example, I love my wife. There is no denying that she actually exists; there is no denying I also exist. However, my love for her is an abstraction which has no independent existence of its own. My love cannot be said to exist because it is not a thing, but merely a description of my subjective mental state.



Time and again I have pointed out that all the ancients and most modern believers are solipsists, who imagine their own subjective perceptual experiences are real. For such a person God appears to be subjectively real, however, because God is not part of objective physical reality, He can never be said to actually exist. No matter how devout you may be, your own thoughts are merely abstractions which never actually exist. You may sense God's presence in a most intimate way, but that does not make Him real, and you cannot truthfully assert that He actually exists.

Answer 5

I can imagine truth (a human concept that is the subject of great dispute), justice (a human concept that varies by person and culture), beauty (a human concept that seems to depend upon the beholder's personal opinion and what is beheld), love (another man made idea which has innumerable meanings and shades of meaning).



None of those intangibles has any concrete form nor do they have any one meaning to all people. If they were ordained by god, shouldn't the concepts be immutable and planet-wide?



Since these are not "values" and since they cease to exist if no human mind is thinking about it, they are like god. Only exists in a human mind.

Answer 6

You can associate them with an imaginary being if you want, but they are physical. No, they can't be seen under a microscope, they are experienced through our senses and can be seen in scientific tests.



Truth is logic, a scientific term. justice is just the punishment for doing wrong by the law. By person I am assuming that you mean the person's "soul". The soul, beauty, and love come from brainwaves in your head. We can scientifically see the difference in brainwaves when you experience these thing.

Answer 7

I'll drink to this question...



*Drink*



And for your answer: Yes I believe in untangible things such as truth and love. However, these things are not evidence of a supreme being.

Answer 8

In business accounting there is a ledger entry for Goodwill. Companies put a dollar value there to reflect the value of their company's good name, credit rating and connectedness with markets and suppliers.



This practice is reflected in a common business expression, "Business is business and love is BS!"



Intangibles can have values given to them, but they do not actually exist as realities.

The values are assigned by humans, and only serve to show what concepts humans place values on.

Answer 9

Person? People exist last time I checked...



Otherwise, I can agree that we humans use words to describe emotions. Emotions are real, if not "tangible." Thus, truth, beauty and love are all subjective, and thus do not really exist in any way other than descriptions for emotions that we share.



So, God is emotion and nothing more?

Answer 10

lame,



I believe in lots of things I can't touch or see. However, I don't believe that the idea of what Chrisians call religion is any sort of reality.



How is it that a perfect being like God had to change everything around when he sent Jesus down? If he is perfect and knows all why did he change how religion worked? He exterminated (supposedly) the world because he didn't like it.



Christians make me sad, the bible is so full of contradictions that people who believe it all should be committed.

Answer 11

I don't have to believe in love, which is an emotion caused by a chemical reaction in your body. I don't have to believe in truth, because something is either logically true or it isn't. It does not require belief, it is a word. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, beauty can't be defined, something can't be defined as beautiful, it's in the opinion of the person observing it- Also caused by our brain and the way it thinks.

Answer 12

Give it a rest! I am not going back to being afraid of what is in the dark! I have peace now, and I am not giving it up, for you, or anything else!

I have truth, beauty, love, and yes, even justice in my life! and plenty of it!

You don't need to have a deity to have those!

Stay in the dark if you must, but I prefer the sunlight of reason, logic, and ethics!

Personally, that is much better for me, than what you have!

Answer 13

This is sort of like saying wonderment leads to Santa Claus, but okay. If things like feelings, philosophy, and terms leads you to believe that God must exist, that is your choice. those things can also be explained by thoughts in different parts of the brain, as an electrical reaction, thus they are still physical in the sense that they exist in our minds. It is a stretch to then say they are proof of something that doesn't physically exist in our minds.

Answer 14

No, I believe in laws, even though I can't touch them. I'm still bound by them.



I also believe in morality, though I can't touch that either.



I believe in lots of intangibles. That doesn't mean I'm gullible. I do have some standards. And the basic theist idea of God is way out in left field... Unless you're suggesting that "God" is nothing more than the part of human nature/mind that gives us the ability to create/experience these intangibles.

Answer 15

Personally, I think all civilized peoples share such values, though their interpretations vary over a wide range. I see no reason to think that those things point to a God. Believing that murder is wrong, stealing is wrong, lying is wrong is just common sense.

Answer 16

Intangibles such as truth, person, justice, beauty, love, etc are still studyable, proveable (one way or another) and can be measured.

God cannot be proven, studied, measured or seen...that is why religious people refer to it as faith.

Answer 17

No, you are mistaken, your god is a sicko:

http://www.evilbible.com/Murder.htm



"You are my battle-ax and sword," says the LORD. "With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms. With you I will shatter armies, destroying the horse and rider, the chariot and charioteer. With you I will shatter men and women, old people and children, young men and maidens. With you I will shatter shepherds and flocks, farmers and oxen, captains and rulers. "As you watch, I will repay Babylon and the people of Babylonia for all the wrong they have done to my people in Jerusalem," says the LORD. "Look, O mighty mountain, destroyer of the earth! I am your enemy," says the LORD. "I will raise my fist against you, to roll you down from the heights. When I am finished, you will be nothing but a heap of rubble. You will be desolate forever. Even your stones will never again be used for building. You will be completely wiped out," says the LORD. (Jeremiah 51:20-26)



(Note that after God promises the Israelites a victory against Babylon, the Israelites actually get their butts kicked by them in the next chapter. So much for an all-knowing and all-powerful God.)

Answer 18

All those "intangibles" are based on human mental processes and brain structure, which can be viewed with MRIs. Thoughts do exist, although they are subjective. Concepts like love and justice exist because the brain exists.

Answer 19

No; I believe in the things you refer to as intangible, or "untangible". By believe in, I mean value.

Answer 20

beauty exists only in opinions.



justice obviously doesnt exist, when a man who rapes a child gets a couple years in jail then is released to do it again. (at least not in the united states. lol, we got too many people demanding criminals to be set free because hanging them is wrong. so instead we let others suffer)



truth is only exists when there is no false.



persons do exist u can measure them. i weigh 175lbs.



and blah blah blah.



love is a chemical reaction.



but emotions are only as definitive as the person who is having them... and in all reality, its no different then preferences or favorites. they are something that exists to that person and those who share that thought. you liking pineapple doesnt matter to me. it can exist as your favorite food, but it exists as my least favorite. justice to you can be slapping them on the hand where to me its hanging them. and so on.



your justice, your love, your truth, etc, are not the same as mine. i hold different truths, loves, justices and so forth.



*shrug*

Answer 21

Of course atheists believe in abstract concepts, but they are all subjective. These words mean different things to everyone. They "exist" in the sense that we perceive them to exist. But I don't see how that points to the fact that there is a god.

Answer 22

The existence of some intangibles is not evidence for the existence of all intangibles. You might just as well claim that the existence of evil proves the existence of goblins.

Answer 23

Platonism went out of fashion centuries ago. Intangible things all originate within the mind

Answer 24

Doesn't matter whether you can see it or not. Stick your tongue in a live socket and you'll learn that electricity exists, even though we can't see it.



The difference is electricity, etc., are provable, tested, evidence-based facts.



Unlike God, which is based on man-made teachings and superstition.

Answer 25

I believe in thoughts too, if that's what you're asking. I do not believe "justice" or "love" would exist without the mind projecting these concepts.

Answer 26

They point to what ever is convenient to you. It could be god, buddha, Zoroaster or the chick next door. That is why we like tangibles.

Answer 27

Of course we believe in the things you've referred to as intangible.



We just don't take the leap of faith you do and attribute it to a supernatural creator.

Answer 28

truth, beauty, justice, love, etc are all subjective.



They are things that are perceived but don't actually exist objectively.



Ergo



No god.



It's kind of like that shadow in your bedroom when you're a kid that looks just like Freddy Kreuger.

Answer 29

great point! and many don't know that we are priviledge to have these emotions...people think they have total control of their lifes as if they go to sleep at night and control that they will rise again in the morning....it is God who gives life and you are right God is the source of all good things....

Answer 30

abstract concepts are a part our reality. but they are subjective. and can be whatever you want them to be. a bit like belief in god

Answer 31

I don't need a god to fall in love or think something is unjust.

Answer 32

Well, you are entitled to believe what ever you like.



These things exist in our mind. What about all the negatives? Ugliness, hate, vengeance, pride, pain. These thing must also come from god then right? (You cannot have it both ways.)

Answer 33

abstract concepts are believable, they are neither illogical nor incomprehencable.



God is both

Answer 34

could be, but most of them believe in theoretically.

Answer 35

Atheists do not need proof to be Atheists.



They have faith that they are right about what they believe.



And just like a bunch of senseless silly children, they deny it.