5 Rational Unscientific Things

Quoted verbatim from William Lane Craig vs. Peter Atkins https://youtube.com/watch?v=BQL2YDY_LiM.

Five things that cannot be scientifically proven but that are all rational to accept:

  1. Logical and mathematical truths, which are presupposed by science.
  2. Metaphysical truths, like “there are other minds other than my own; the external world is real; the past was not created 5 minutes ago with the appearance of age”.
  3. Ethical beliefs or statements of value, e.g. “science can’t show that Nazi scientists did anything evil compared with Western scientists.”
  4. Aesthetic judgments, like 3.
  5. Science itself, which is permeated with unprovable assumptions (e.g. speed of light is constant).

Email: lorenzohess@tutanota.com

Created: 2026-08-15 Sat 10:31