(September 11, 2015 at 2:31 pm)Rational AKD Wrote:
Argument:
1. a metaphysically solipsist world (a world where only a mind exists) cannot be proven false due to epistemic limitations.
2. it is unreasonable to presume solipsism is impossible given 1, therefore it must be reasonably granted solipsism is possible.
3. given 2, it is possible for mind to exist in a solipsist (immaterial) world while it is not for matter.
4. there is therefore something that it true of mind but not of matter. this means they cannot be the same thing and mind is not reducible to matter.
5. substance dualism has been proven false due to the interaction problem (substances can only interact via shared properties and substances cannot be fundamental and share properties).
6. therefore, all is mind and monistic idealism entails.
I confess I have not bothered to read the entire thread. But has anyone pointed out the fact that statement 2 does not follow from the previous claims? If I cannot prove that something is false, that does not mean that it is actually possible.
It is confusing an epistemological idea with a metaphysical idea. I may not be able to prove something, but that is about my knowledge. Whether it is actually possible or not does not depend on my knowledge.
Furthermore, 3 is introducing more that does not follow from what was stated previously, because a mind might be a material thing. Maybe your mind is all that exists, but your mind is a material object. Thus, 3 would be false.
So you have at least a couple of ridiculous leaps in your argument, and even if there were only one ridiculous leap, it would fail. Your argument is crap.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.