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From: laura@l5.uucp (Laura Creighton)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy,net.religion
Subject: Re: Rigorous Mortis
Message-ID: <167@l5.uucp>
Date: Sat, 28-Sep-85 17:33:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: l5.167
Posted: Sat Sep 28 17:33:38 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 2-Oct-85 08:14:42 EDT
References: <136@l5.uucp> <1780@pyuxd.UUCP>
Reply-To: laura@l5.UUCP (Laura Creighton)
Organization: Ell-Five [Consultants], San Francisco
Lines: 31
Xref: linus net.philosophy:2467 net.religion:7415

Rich, I think that you are missing the forest for the trees.  This is not
a very involved or complicated point I am trying to make. I will give it
another shot...

If you want to determine whether or not I am hungry you look for objective
evidence of my hunger or lack of hunger.  Okay -- that is your method. Now
since you happened to use this method rather than (for instance) casting
the I Ching or praying to God, I must conclude that you have more faith
in this method than either of those others.  Now, since I am playing the role
of the skeptic, my next question is, ``what evidence do you have that this
method, when applied, yeilds truth?''.  In other words -- why are you an
objectivist?

It should come as no surprise to you that I am also an objectivist, so I can
answer this question as I would with out trouble.  However, the first time
I answered this question I ran into a good deal of trouble.  How do I know 
that all the evidence of my senses are not an elabourate illusion put on
for the express purpose of deceiving me?  The answer I got then, and that
I still get when I look at it is ``I don't.''  I do have a very basic and
fundamental belief that there is an objective reality, though I may have
doubts about its nature all the time.

But this is an example of an unverifiable truth.  I cannot get to a meta-level
to verufy this belief. I am stuck with leaving it as a belief, albeit one that
I hold very strongly and do not question very often.  I fail to see why you
are not in the same boat.

-- 
Laura Creighton		(note new address!)
sun!l5!laura		(that is ell-five, not fifteen)
l5!laura@lll-crg.arpa


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