Friday 28 December 2012

Is certainty confined to introspection and the tautological?

Certainty - Something that cannot be doubted.
Introspection - Examining your own mind (getting it to think about itself).
Tautology - Analytic statement.

Tautologies are necessary truths, they cannot be doubted. Rationalists and empiricists agree that they are certain. "Every mother has a child".

They also agree that we can be certain about some things we gain from introspection. For example:

  • We think we experience things, whether we do or not
  • Memories
  • The Cogito - thinking about our mind doubting
Uncertain:
  • If we are experiencing
  • If we are experiencing what we think we are (a clock) - may be something different that what we perceive
  • Whether induction proves conclusion/if conclusion is certain
  • That causation is real (we never experience it) - E would respond with constant conjunction of events

No comments:

Post a Comment