Assumptions
Pt. 1
You have all been told not to assume, right? Why? Because it makes an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’. Pardon the language. Needless to say some people do not like assumptions. Unfortunately, assumptions are necessary and a part of everyday language. We make assumptions all of the time in communicating. If I tell you the sky is blue, I make a number of assumptions even with such a simple statement: I assume you can understand English, I assume you are not color blind or blind completely, I assume you understand what I mean even if the sky is overcast and cloudy. These kinds of assumptions are not usually the problem but assumptions become chancy when they are not grounded in experience. The problem is when your assumptions are wrong. This makes things tricky because it is sometimes hard to tell when you are making a wrong assumption, why the assumption is wrong, and since assumptions are unspoken prerequisites, it is even hard for others to catch when you are making a wrong assumption.
Actions have consequences. That’s an easy one. Good actions have good consequences and bad actions have bad consequences. Actions are determined by ideas. Ideas therefore have consequences. Complex ideas are supported by conglomerates of simpler ideas which in turn can be supported by the simplest ideas on down the line. And these supporting ideas are a type of assumption. Another name for this kind of assumption is a presupposition. Now the kicker is that good ideas can be backed-up by bad presuppositions, which usually turn into good intentions with unwanted outcomes. A good example would be the idea of bringing about world peace by melting down all of our weapons with the hope that the rest of the world will follow suit. This is founded upon the assumption that man is inherently good and, therefore, there will be no ‘bad’ men out there that we need protection from. The idea has great intentions but terrible support.
Not only does knowing what assumptions are being made by one idea or another benefit you by making it harder for you to be taken in by bad ideas, but also a great many problems can be solved by looking at what presuppositions one idea or another base themselves on.
Theodicy, or as C. S. Lewis put it, ‘The problem of pain’. Pain and evil is one of the top causes for atheism in the world. Why? Because why would a loving, benevolent God allow such pain and evil? Unless God is malevolent...but who would want a God like that? Theologically, the argument runs like this:
If God is good, and God is all-powerful, then there would not be pain and evil in the world (because if He was good, He would want me to be happy, and if He was all-powerful, He would be able to do what He wants). But there is pain and evil in the world so therefore God must either not be good, not be all-powerful, or He must not exist. Now there are many answers to the question ‘Why is there evil and pain in the world?’ but the logic used in this particular argument is flawed in its presuppositions.
There are several presuppositions. Some of them are stated, some are not. Two assumptions that are stated are: God is good, and God is all-powerful. This presumes that God exists in the first place (this not including their conclusion). Two unstated presuppositions are that God is at fault for the evil and pain in the world and that we know what is good for ourselves. These last two presuppositions are where the logic runs into trouble. If good and evil are determined by God’s nature - good being according to it, and evil being against it - then God is not at fault for the evil. (Indeed, He allows it for the sake of human free will.) Evil and much pain come out of our ability to choose. It is a simple consequence of having free will. Not only that but we cannot say we know what is best for ourselves. As C. S. Lewis put it:
“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line...Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist - in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless - I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality - namely my idea of justice - was full of sense.”
These are just two examples in which erroneous assumptions rendered the argument void. Knowing how to look into the assumptions and determining what assumptions are being made will greatly decrease the possibility of being deceived and may help answer many difficult questions that were otherwise unanswerable.
Jared Williams
Actions have consequences. That’s an easy one. Good actions have good consequences and bad actions have bad consequences. Actions are determined by ideas. Ideas therefore have consequences. Complex ideas are supported by conglomerates of simpler ideas which in turn can be supported by the simplest ideas on down the line. And these supporting ideas are a type of assumption. Another name for this kind of assumption is a presupposition. Now the kicker is that good ideas can be backed-up by bad presuppositions, which usually turn into good intentions with unwanted outcomes. A good example would be the idea of bringing about world peace by melting down all of our weapons with the hope that the rest of the world will follow suit. This is founded upon the assumption that man is inherently good and, therefore, there will be no ‘bad’ men out there that we need protection from. The idea has great intentions but terrible support.
Not only does knowing what assumptions are being made by one idea or another benefit you by making it harder for you to be taken in by bad ideas, but also a great many problems can be solved by looking at what presuppositions one idea or another base themselves on.
Theodicy, or as C. S. Lewis put it, ‘The problem of pain’. Pain and evil is one of the top causes for atheism in the world. Why? Because why would a loving, benevolent God allow such pain and evil? Unless God is malevolent...but who would want a God like that? Theologically, the argument runs like this:
If God is good, and God is all-powerful, then there would not be pain and evil in the world (because if He was good, He would want me to be happy, and if He was all-powerful, He would be able to do what He wants). But there is pain and evil in the world so therefore God must either not be good, not be all-powerful, or He must not exist. Now there are many answers to the question ‘Why is there evil and pain in the world?’ but the logic used in this particular argument is flawed in its presuppositions.
There are several presuppositions. Some of them are stated, some are not. Two assumptions that are stated are: God is good, and God is all-powerful. This presumes that God exists in the first place (this not including their conclusion). Two unstated presuppositions are that God is at fault for the evil and pain in the world and that we know what is good for ourselves. These last two presuppositions are where the logic runs into trouble. If good and evil are determined by God’s nature - good being according to it, and evil being against it - then God is not at fault for the evil. (Indeed, He allows it for the sake of human free will.) Evil and much pain come out of our ability to choose. It is a simple consequence of having free will. Not only that but we cannot say we know what is best for ourselves. As C. S. Lewis put it:
“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line...Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist - in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless - I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality - namely my idea of justice - was full of sense.”
These are just two examples in which erroneous assumptions rendered the argument void. Knowing how to look into the assumptions and determining what assumptions are being made will greatly decrease the possibility of being deceived and may help answer many difficult questions that were otherwise unanswerable.
Jared Williams
