Strong atheism is the certain belief that no god exists. An older way of saying strong atheism is to say "positive atheism". Weak atheism is all other forms of not believing in a god or gods. An older way of saying weak atheism is to say "negative atheism" These terms have been used more in philosophical writing and in Catholic beliefs.
since at least 1813.
Under this definition of atheism, most agnostics are weak atheists.
Michael Martin says that agnosticism includes weak atheism. Some agnostics, including Anthony Kenny, disagree. They think being an agnostic is different from being an atheist. They think atheism is no different from believing in a god, because both require belief. This overlooks the reality that agnostics also have their own belief or "claim to knowledge"
Agnostics say that it cannot be known if a god or gods exist. In their view, strong atheism requires a leap of faith.
Atheists usually respond by saying that there is no difference between an idea about religion with no proof, and an idea about other things
The lack of proof that god does not exist does not mean that there is no god, but it also does not mean that there is a god.
Scottish philosopher J.J.C. Smart says that "sometimes a person who is really an atheist may describe herself, even passionately, as an agnostic because of unreasonable generalised philosophical skepticism which would preclude us from saying that we know anything whatever, except perhaps the truths of mathematics and formal logic".
So, some popular atheist authors such as Richard Dawkins like to show the difference between theist, agnostic and atheist positions by the probability assigned to the statement "God exists".
In everyday life, many people define natural phenomena without the need of a god or gods. They do not deny the existence of one or more gods, they simply say that this existence is not necessary. Gods do not provide a purpose to life, nor influence it, according to this view.
Many scientists practice what they call methodological naturalism. They silently adopt philosophical naturalism and use the scientific method. Their belief in a god does not affect their results.
Practical atheism can take different forms:
Theoretic atheism tries to find arguments against the existence of god, and to disprove the arguments of theism, such as the argument from design or Pascal's Wager. These theoretical reasons have many forms, most of them are ontological or epistemological. Some rely on psychology or sociology.
According to Immanuel Kant, there can be no proof of a supreme being that is made using reason. In his work, "Critique of Pure Reason", he tries to show that all attempts of either proving the existence of God, or disproving it, end in logical contradictions. Kant says that it is impossible to know whether there are any higher beings. This makes him an agnostic.
Ludwig Feuerbach published "The Essence of Christianity" in 1841. In his work he postulates the following:
The following phrases sum up Feuerbach's writing:
Hippocrates
Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was a Greek doctor who is called the "father of medicine". He was the first person to teach that people got sick for scientific reasons. Previously, people believed that disease was caused by angry gods.
Many of Hippocrates' writings are still important to doctors. For example, patient confidentiality, meaning that doctors can only discuss a patient with the patient themselves. Another of his ideas is to never knowingly lead a patient to suffering or death. These kinds of ideas are part of medical ethics.
The Hippocratic Oath is named after him. This is a set of rules which doctors promise to obey. This is an example of a modern "Hippocratic Oath" used at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. I do solemnly swear by all I hold most sacred:
Commensurability
Commensurability is a concept in the philosophy of science. Scientific theories are described as "commensurable" if one can compare them to find out which is more accurate. If there is no way one can compare them to determine which is more accurate, they are "incommensurable".
Behind this is the idea that it is possible to see the world in multiple ways, and that there is not one fair method to see which way is right. Some think that scientific traditions (or "paradigms") can be incommensurable: it is not really possible to say which one is right. This idea has been defended by Thomas Kuhn. He wrote: "when paradigms change, the world changes with them". Paul Feyerabend was another philosopher who said that incommensurability was possible in scientific topics. He wrote that it is important to remember this, because it means that it is possible to say things that are not scientific, but also not wrong. These ideas were mainly aimed at Karl Popper and his ideas on falsification.
Two theories may not be comparable if one cannot find a way to compare them and decide which is right.
The concept of incommensurability is dramatized in the 2006 movie "Idiocracy", when U.S. Army scientist Joe Bauers attempts to explain before a full Cabinet meeting his theory that the nation's crops would be better irrigated with water rather than with a sports drink.
Harvest
Harvest means to collect what has been planted and grown in the ground. It is usually done by farmers, and in the fall season. This is also called picking crops. Crop failure (also known as harvest failure) is a loss or reduced crop yield due to plants being damaged, killed, or destroyed. Sometimes it brings famine.
"Harvest" can also mean to collect other things than plants such as cultivated bivalves including oysters, scallops, and other animals.
ELISPOT
ELISPOT stands for "Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Spot Assay". It is a laboratory technique for detecting cells that make (or "secrete") various substances. These substances include specific types of cytokines or antibodies. The ELISPOT method is typically used with blood cells, and is a helpful tool in studying the human immune system and various treatments for disease (e.g. vaccines).
In the ELISPOT technique, tiny wells are used to contain the cells, with a variety of other substances. The substances cause colored spots to form near the cells that secrete the substances in question. These spots can then be counted manually (using a microscope, for example) or automatically using specialized equipment with computer vision capabilities.
The ELISPOT technique is very sensitive, and can detect even a single substance-producing cell. It is also very versatile, since it can be tailored to detect a wide variety of very specific secretions.
List of biochemistry topics
This is a list of all the articles related to biochemistry.
abiogenesis - adenine - adenosine diphosphate (ADP) - adenosine triphosphate (ATP) - albumin - allotrope - alpha helix - amino acid - amylase - antibiotic - antibody - antigen -
B vitamin complex - base pair - bilirubin - benzene - biochemistry - bioluminescence - blood - blood type
carbohydrate - carbon dioxide - catabolism - cell - cell membrane - cellobiose - cellular respiration - cellulose - chemoautotroph - chloroplast - choline - chromatography - citric acid - coenzyme A - cytoplasm - cytokine - cytosine - cytosol -
deoxyribose - disaccharide - DNA - DNA replication -
ELISA - ELISPOT - energy level - enkephalin - enzyme - epinephrine - erythropoietin -
fat - formaldehyde -
gel electrophoresis - glycolysis - glycoprotein - granzyme - guanine -
hemoglobin - hormone - hydrocarbon - hydrogen bond - hydrolysis -
immunoglobulin - immunology - insulin - intermolecular force - ion channel - ionic bond - isomer -
keratin - kinetic energy - Krebs cycle -
Le Chatelier's principle - light-dependent reactions - light-independent reactions - Link reaction - lipid -
macromolecule - membrane protein - metabolism - microbiology - molecular biology - molecule - monosaccharide -