Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
> But our main criterion for what to believe should be
> what is true, right?
I find it fascinating, as well as consistent with some difficulties in
communication about the most basic concepts, that Stathis would express
this belief of his in the form of a tautology. I've observed that he is
generally both thoughtful and precise in his writing, so I'm very
interested in whether the apparent tautology is my misunderstanding, his
transparent belief, a simple lack of precision, or something more.
If he had said something like "our main criterion for what to believe
should be what works, what seems to work, what passes the tests of time,
etc." or had made a direct reference to Occams's Razor, I would be
comfortable knowing that we're thinking alike on this point. But I've
seen this stumbling block arise so many times and so many places that
I'm very curious to learn something of its source.
> We might never be certain of the truth, so our beliefs should
> always be tentative, but that doesn't mean we should believe
> whatever we fancy.
Here it's a smaller point, and I agree with the main thrust of the
statement, but it leaves a door open for the possibility that we might
actually be justifiably certain of the truth in *some* case, and I'm
wonder where that open door is intended to lead.
-----------
In response to John Mikes:
Yes, I consider my thinking about truth to be pragmatic, within an
empirical framework of open-ended possibility. Of course, ultimately
this too may be considered a matter of faith, but one with growth that
seems to operate in a direction opposite from the faith you express.
- Jef
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Received on Tue Dec 26 2006 - 20:46:15 PST