Russell's teapot, sometimes called the celestial teapot or cosmic teapot, is an analogy first coined by the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) to illustrate the idea that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making scientificallyunfalsifiable claims rather than shifting the burden of proof to others, specifically in the case of religion. Russell wrote that if he claimed that a teapot were orbiting the Sun somewhere in space between the Earth and Mars, it would be nonsensical for him to expect others not to doubt him on the grounds that they could not prove him wrong. Russell's teapot is still referred to in discussions concerning the existence of God and has drawn some criticism for comparing the unfalsifiability of a teapot to God.
illustrate the idea that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making scientificallyunfalsifiable claims rather than shifting the burden of proof to others, specifically in the case of religion. Russell wrote that if he claimed that a teapot were orbiting the Sun somewhere in space between the Earth and Mars, it would be nonsensical for him to expect others not to doubt him on the grounds that they could not prove him wrong. Russell's teapot is still referred to in discussions concerning the existence of God and has drawn some criticism for comparing the unfalsifiability of a teapot to God.
This argument has been used in a lot of different forms to show that if you set up claims a certain way and shift the burden of proof you can make an argument for anything. Some modern examples are Carl Sagan's dragon and Richard Dawkin's great Juju at the bottom of the sea.
Another brilliant contribution was Russell's teapot:
This argument has been used in a lot of different forms to show that if you set up claims a certain way and shift the burden of proof you can make an argument for anything. Some modern examples are Carl Sagan's dragon and Richard Dawkin's great Juju at the bottom of the sea.