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Not Quite The UF Philosophy Corner | by MatthewDBA | 2009-03-30 10:33:33 |
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Not quite valid. The statement presupposes the | by twixt | 2009-03-30 11:06:30 |
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What makes you feel | by MatthewDBA | 2009-03-30 11:10:29 |
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That's actually the crux of the matter. And is, | by twixt | 2009-03-30 11:40:20 |
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Does it follow that | by MatthewDBA | 2009-03-30 11:58:07 |
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All statements which cannot be resolved by | by twixt | 2009-03-30 12:37:36 |
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Does that include the statement | by MatthewDBA | 2009-03-30 12:39:34 |
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Yes. That is a tenet. Like the mathematical | by twixt | 2009-03-30 12:58:24 |
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That's not necessarily the case. | by MatthewDBA | 2009-03-30 13:07:20 |
| OK, I get what you are saying. However, |
by twixt |
2009-03-30 13:31:25 |
it violates set theory. If we have the set of all possible facts and opinions, and we remove the facts, the set-remainder is the set of opinions. I get that there is a possibility of other things than facts and opinions, but they have not been a part of the discussion up to now.
One of the observable situations that occur in philosophical discussions is that as the issues are reduced to their fundamentals, the probability of running into circular arguments increases. This is guaranteed by the uncertainty principle.
The universe is an indeterminate place. Quantum mechanics, our best-tested theory, defines it as such. We *can't* know everything. What we can do is create workable hypotheses and work towards making those hypotheses as accurate as possible - knowing that we will never succeed in actually doing so.
That we will gather more ability to work productively with the abilities the universe allows is the reward. Knowledge is the tool. But knowledge is and will ever be incomplete. What we already know about information theory in a probablistic and indeterminate universe forbids absolute knowledge to human brains - at least in the universe we currently understand.
And to move beyond that is to move back into the realm of faith and *its* circular reasoning. Another sign we, IMO, have come to at least one of the fundamentals of philosophy.
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[ Reply ] |
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That's not quite what I'm saying | by MatthewDBA | 2009-03-30 16:54:31 |
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For the scientific method to work, a "fact" is | by twixt | 2009-03-30 18:56:53 |
