(May 8, 2017 at 9:41 am)Whateverist Wrote: ...don't you think it useful to at least bear in mind that we carry our psychological limitations everywhere. especially into our attempts to look beyond them? I don't think it is reductionist to accept the provisional nature of any conclusions reached in such attempts. It is merely prudent.
Even within the Christian worldview there is the acknowledgement that our rationality has been corrupted by sin, so of course, a measure of humility is required. The question is how far does one extend this notion. There seem to be no lower limit to skepticism. Unless there is a counterbalancing trust in something beyond one's own cognitive abilities, local perspective, and immediate desires then skepticism devours every pretense of rationality and intelligibility.I feel like every time I press the issue someone will object that ultimately reason cannot be trusted, that our senses deceive us, and that objective knowledge cannot be attained. To my mind these are self-defeating position. When confronted with this, many skeptics just shrug their shoulders and appeal to pragmatism like "Meh, good is good enough. I don't need certainty." Perhaps that is true. Many people go through life without wrestling with the puzzles of philosophy and are none the worse for it. At the same time I take issue with those who will say that belief in God is irrational/illogical but base their objections on notions that undermine the ability to attain knowledge.
Next, my preemptive response to the objection that math and logic are merely descriptive was placed ahead of the part you quoted, which is this:
(February 28, 2017 at 12:54 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: ...the central mystery of mathematics which is how consistently abstract principles model external phenomena. If math and logic do in fact describe phenomena then what is it about reality that they are describing?
I think your earlier response to this falls into the "they just do" category.