re benediktine metaphysics in article mimsy umd edu mangoe cs umd edu charley wingate writes benedikt rosenau writes with great authority if it is contradictory it cannot exist contradictory is a property of language if i correct this to things defined by contradictory language do not exist i will object to definitions as reality if you then amend it to things described by contradictory language do not exist then we ve come to something which is plainly false failures in description are merely failures in description how about this description an object that is at one time both a euclidean square and a euclidean circle i hold that no object satisfying this description could exist the description is inconsistent and hence describes an object that could not exist now suppose someone pointed to a bicycle and said that object is at one time both a euclidean square and a euclidean circle this does not mean that the bicycle does not exist it measn that the description was incorrectly applied the atheist says the descriptions of god that i have been presented with are contradictory and hence describe something that cannot exist now your position so far as i can gather is that god exists but the descriptions atheists have been presented with are simply bad descriptions of it this is roughly analogous to someone who has never seen a bicycle and when they ask for a description from people who claim to have seen one are told that it is a euclidean circle square can they be blamed for doubting rather strongly that this bicycle exists at all i m not an objectivist remember no kidding sincerely ray ingles ingles engin umich edu the meek can have the earth the rest of us are going to the stars robert a heinlein
