Mkorr said:
No, this argument is not based on a naturalistic presupposition. In fact, it is the exact opposite. The idea of "X" here makes empirically testable predictions, predictions that could in theory be confirmed or falsified with experiment.
- If X does make empirical predictions, these predictions can in theory be confirmed or refuted by science.
- If X does not make any empirical predictions; if a world where X existed is identical in every conceivable respect to a world where X did not exist, then what on Earth does it mean to say that "X exists"?
I will tell you the method that I think works, but there's a good chance you will refute it from a materialist perspective. You have to begin with the core meaning of the term, empirical. Empiricism means proceeding from sensory observations. Empiricism doesn't actually address the materiality of whatever is causing the sensory observations, just the perceptions themselves. So now, I ask you if you can empirically observe something subjective? Can you empirically observe a thought or feeling occurring inside yourself and recognize that observation as empirical? Obviously the problem is that no one else can verify your observations, unless they conduct their own and describe similar occurrences. Studying subjective phenomena in this way, you can explore inner life in the way that early psychologists did in trying to understand what was happening inside of people that caused behavior, neuroses, and the like.
From a psychological perspective, materialist consciousness basically entails the belief that things can exist independently of subjective perception. Psychosis is when people become unable, or perhaps unwilling, to distinguish between subjective perceptions as being caused by their mind or by external material phenomena. You can go to a psychiatric ward and observe people's behavior while they're living with psychosis, but it won't help you observe what's actually going on in their perceptions, because only they have access to that. If you are not afraid of losing the capacity to distinguish between psychosis and reality, however, you can explore your mind's ability to perceive non-material based subjective phenomena, that of God and divinity included. However, if you return to materialism as an instrument to verify you subjective perceptions, you will only ever replicate the distinction between objective and subjective that renders your non-objective perceptions immaterial and therefore non-real. So objectivism/materialism can only ever disprove the "existence" of subjective phenomena outside of inner-experience.
Here is what you need to provide in order to, for me, establish the existence of X.
1. Provide a coherent and meaningful definition of X.
2. Provide a system of norms for comparing a naturalistic and a supernatural explanation.
3. Provide evidence for X, that is, show that testable predictions from the existence of X conforms to reality.
By studying what you discover about your subjective perceptions of God and divinity, you could take note of your observations and compare those with what others have written or otherwise expressed about the same phenomena. You could attempt to falsify your own observations or what others have written by exploring alternative ideas. For example, you could attempt to conjure up the idea of God as an energy-being and compare what that would mean in contrast to constructing God as a father figure, etc. You might find that you are capable of imagine God in either form, or you might find that you are limited to conceptualizing God beyond human form, etc.
Notice that no where in this does a naturalistic presupposition enter into the equation. If the above is reasonable, then "philosophical naturalism" (or "materialism") would be a conclusion not a presupposition. This method outlined above does not, in any shape or form, prevent you "from ever exploring the existence of anything non-material/non-physical ever again".
Yes, materialist philosophy includes the ability to conclude that materialism is the best or only true means of perceiving a "real reality." This is why many people get locked into materialism as the measuring tape for all perceptions. They keep asking if things are real in order to subject them to materialist testing. In this way, materialism takes over people's consciousness and renders them impotent to explore other forms of thought.
