RE: Rationally proving rationality
December 14, 2011 at 4:26 pm
(This post was last modified: December 14, 2011 at 4:34 pm by Perhaps.)
"The justification is the refutation."
- No it's not. You can't refute the statement that it is intued by stating a justification for why it is helpful.
"The basic argument, as far as I can see, is that the statement "Reason is the best tool to gain knowledge" is intuitive. That means, this statement cannot be justified by reason but is known to us automatically. In effect, the author is saying "I can't explain why reason is the best way to gain knowledge, I just know it to be true". "
- Yes, that is the basic argument.
"This statement falls apart if a reason is provided or if it is shown to be non-intuitive otherwise, such as true by tautology."
- It only falls apart if you show that it is non-intuitive, providing a reason for its usefulness does not negate the statement.
"For example, is the knowledge "All bachelors are unmarried" intuitive? That is, would you say that this knowledge is without reason or you know of no reason but you know it to be true anyway? This statement is tautologically true, i.e. true by definition. It doesn't need to be intued.
Similarly, consider "Reason is the way to gain knowledge about reality". Process of identification of facts about reality and making conclusions on them is what reason is. Knowledge is familiarity with those facts. They are two parts of the same process. "
- Suppose it is true by definition meaning that it is true by tautology. Is tautology not intued? The point of this whole thing is to show that some things are intued to be true, and because of this intuition there is no real way to ensure ourselves that what we are doing is correct - no matter how helpful, useful, resourceful, etc.
Most individuals don't know what they would do without reason, but suppose for an instant that there are other ways to think that oppose reason, and further, that when you use those other ways much more can be analyzed and thought about.
I will repeat once again, I do believe that reason and rational thought are the best ways to approach our physical world, but when approaching a topic not within this universe, why would we use something that only applies to our reality? something that only applies to our dimensions?
Just something to think about.
- No it's not. You can't refute the statement that it is intued by stating a justification for why it is helpful.
"The basic argument, as far as I can see, is that the statement "Reason is the best tool to gain knowledge" is intuitive. That means, this statement cannot be justified by reason but is known to us automatically. In effect, the author is saying "I can't explain why reason is the best way to gain knowledge, I just know it to be true". "
- Yes, that is the basic argument.
"This statement falls apart if a reason is provided or if it is shown to be non-intuitive otherwise, such as true by tautology."
- It only falls apart if you show that it is non-intuitive, providing a reason for its usefulness does not negate the statement.
"For example, is the knowledge "All bachelors are unmarried" intuitive? That is, would you say that this knowledge is without reason or you know of no reason but you know it to be true anyway? This statement is tautologically true, i.e. true by definition. It doesn't need to be intued.
Similarly, consider "Reason is the way to gain knowledge about reality". Process of identification of facts about reality and making conclusions on them is what reason is. Knowledge is familiarity with those facts. They are two parts of the same process. "
- Suppose it is true by definition meaning that it is true by tautology. Is tautology not intued? The point of this whole thing is to show that some things are intued to be true, and because of this intuition there is no real way to ensure ourselves that what we are doing is correct - no matter how helpful, useful, resourceful, etc.
Most individuals don't know what they would do without reason, but suppose for an instant that there are other ways to think that oppose reason, and further, that when you use those other ways much more can be analyzed and thought about.
I will repeat once again, I do believe that reason and rational thought are the best ways to approach our physical world, but when approaching a topic not within this universe, why would we use something that only applies to our reality? something that only applies to our dimensions?
Just something to think about.
Brevity is the soul of wit.
