Waclaw Kusnierczyk schrieb:
> My point is that logic is a theory, and thus it is, in principle, as
> good as any other theory, in that it may well be incorrect. (01)
I have once in this forum, in relation to statements like these, urged
people to read Thomas Nagel's "The Last Word". Unhappily, Waclaw has not
made it. So I guess I have to try to give a very condensed presentation
of Nagel's central argument against complete skepticism. (02)
Compare the two propositions (a) <1+1=2> and (b) <I doubt that <1+1=2>
is true>, and assume that some of your actions (e.g., as a teacher in a
primary school) depends on whether you act on (a) or (b). Which one
should you choose? I would choose (a), since as Nagel says: "The thought
itself dominates all thoughts about itself." When considered seriously,
the thought <1+1=2> *dominates* the thought <I doubt that <1+1=2> is
true>. Or, with another formulation: Action-relevant skepticism cannot
be produced entirely *from the outside*. But this is the way Waclaw and
many others produce it. (03)
Here is the structure of the argument a second time; now applied to an
example that I think figured in this forum not too long ago. (04)
Compare the two propositions (a) <if I jump from the 60th floor I will
die> and (b) <I doubt that <if I jump from the 60th floor I will die> is
true>, and assume that one of your actions depends on whether you act on
(a) or (b). Which one should you choose? I would choose (a), since as
Nagel says: "The thought itself dominates all thoughts about itself."
When considered seriously, the thought <if I jump from the 60th floor I
will die> *dominates* the thought <I doubt that <if I jump from the 60th
floor I will die> is true>. (05)
best wishes,
Ingvar (06)
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