Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!mailrus!husc6!m2c!wpi!gwydion@Dyved.csc.ti.com From: gwydion@Dyved.csc.ti.com (Basalat Ali Raja) Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam Subject: Re: Logic, Preferences, & Belief (was "Muhamad's prophethood") Message-ID: <9633@wpi.wpi.edu> Date: 13 Mar 90 13:28:34 GMT References: <4772@accuvax.nwu.edu> Sender: shari@wpi.wpi.edu Lines: 40 Approved: shari@wpi.wpi.edu In article <4772@accuvax.nwu.edu> Nancy's Sweetie writes: >Does the Quran itself lay out a system of logic that is to be used, or is >any humanly-derived logic system considered valid? If the Quran does not >specify a logic system, then it would appear that the overall teachings >can vary dependent upon the philosophical framework of its readers, and >that _any of these is equally valid_. Is that a correct interpretation >of what you are saying? If not, what logic is to be used? How is this >determined? When I used the term logic, I did not mean it in the technical sense that is currently used today. Consider what a man on the street would usually call "logical". That is what I meant as logical. I agree that it is a fuzzy definition. This is intentional. If you prefer, you might use the words "reason" and "reasonable" instead of "logic" and "logical". me>Statements which are in the Quranic subset, I feel to be the truth. me>Statements which are not in the Quranic subset, I consider to be me>incorrect. Statements which are not in either of the two, I decide me>on the basis of other factors, usually personal preferences etc. >This has come up in other groups, and I've always wondered if it means >what it says. Do you actually determine the truth or falsehood of a >statement based upon whether you would prefer it to be true? Yes. Such is obvious. >How? A premise *cannot* be proved. It is absolutely a matter of personal preference as to what I accept to be a premise or not. Based on my preferences, and a few other logical predicates which carry out various transformations and combinations on the premises that I accept. To prove me wrong, one has to prove that the universe of statements that I accept is self-contradictary. Anyways, ss you say, this has come up in other groups; there is little need to expound on this much further unless you profess yourself dissatisfied with my answer.