Why Are Liberals Liberals?

[Autolykos]

Thanks for responding, Mr. Roemer. My responses to you are below.

@David Roemer

1. What makes humans different from animals is free will, conscious knowledge, mental beings, and human speech. None of these things can be defined. They are not scientific concepts. Hence, humans are indefinabilites. Since we have bodies, we are embodied spirits: indefinable = embodied spirit.

You assert (again) that “free will” and “conscious knowledge”, now along with “mental being” and “human speech”, can’t be defined. Why not?

Thanks just the same for explaining that you consider “spirit” to be the same as “something that is undefinable”.

@David Roemer

2. We don’t know whether or not animals have conscious knowledge and free will because animals don’t speak.

Is that the only possible way to find out whether animals have conscious knowledge or free will?

@David Roemer

3. An example of irrationality is saying, “free will is an illusion.” Being and reason are fundamental metaphysical concepts and can’t be defined.

Thanks for the example, but I still don’t understand what you mean by “rational”. Can you please tell me?

@David Roemer

4. I believe in revelation for three reasons: 1) historical events, 2) the proof of God’s existence, and 3) people who don’t believe give bad reasons for not believing.

Do you consider “believing in [something]” to be the same as “determining that [something] is true”? Why or why not?

Otherwise, can you please explain those three points in more detail?

@David Roemer

5. Free will isn’t a scientific concept because we don’t know of it from our senses.

How do we not know of it from our senses? Couldn’t we say that, whenever we see a person doing something, we’re observing free will?

Either way, if we don’t know of free will from our senses, how do we know of it?

@David Roemer

6. Free will means that humans are finite beings. But finite beings need a cause. If every being in the universe needed a cause, the universe would not be intelligible. Hence, an infinite being exists.

As I mentioned before, “an infinite being” is in no way necessarily the same as “the God of the Bible”.

@David Roemer

7. Governments get the ability to give people rights because they have power over people.

By “power”, do you mean “physical force” or “the ability to affect a person’s consciousness without his consent”? Either way, where does government’s power over people come from?