Brent Meeker writes:
> > Saying that there is a material substrate which has certain properties is just a working
> > assumption to facilitate thinking about the real world. It may turn out that if we dig into
> > quarks very deeply there is nothing "substantial" there at all, but solid matter will still be
> > solid matter, because it is defined by its properties, not by some mysterious raw physical
> > substrate.
>
> But I don't think we ever have anything but "working assumptions"; so we might as
> well call our best ones "real"; while keeping in mind we may have to change them.
That's just what I meant. If you say, this is *not* just a working assumption, there is some
definite, basic substance called reality over and above what we can observe, that is a
metaphysical statement which can only be based on something akin to religious faith.
Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Sun Aug 27 2006 - 07:54:08 PDT