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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

    It is not the case that The above argument appears to stand or fall with the defensibility of the inductive inference from (1) to (2).

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.The inference from (1) to (2) may be better characterized as abductive rather than inductive, since it reasons to the best explanation of observed evils.
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    • 2.Abductive inferences are evaluated by different epistemic standards than inductive ones, requiring assessment of explanatory coherence rather than frequency or sample size.
      ?

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    • 3.If the inference is abductive, the argument's success depends on whether theism or alternative frameworks better explain the full range of observed evils, not merely on inductive validity.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Stephen Wykstra and other skeptical theists argue that the inference from (1) to (2) fails not due to inductive weakness but due to a prior epistemic limitation: humans lack the cognitive access needed to identify all morally sufficient reasons God might have.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If our epistemic position relative to divine reasons resembles a child's inability to grasp a surgeon's justification for causing pain, then the absence of perceived justifying reasons carries negligible evidential weight.
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    • 3.This objection targets the epistemic preconditions of the inference rather than its inductive form, meaning the argument's fate is tied to the CORNEA principle, not inductive logic per se.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • All of the steps in the argument, other than the inference from (1) to (2), are deductive, and are either clearly valid as they stand, or could be made so by trivial expansions of the argument at the relevant points.
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