(August 19, 2013 at 2:53 am)FallentoReason Wrote: I agree that choices made out of preference are in a sense personal business and non-negotiable, but I'm sure that the majority of us place a lot of value on truth. Now, I'm sure that you would agree truth is independent of any one person's preferences, and I'm also sure that you would agree that not a single theist here follows their particular religion out of preference. Naturally it follows that more is at stake than just discussion about preferences.
I don't really mean to intrude on your conversation which is obviously important to you both. But here is my reaction for what it's worth.
If you make claims about the phenomenology of the mind, I can confirm what you say by comparing it to what I experience. If what you say does not reflect what I experience, then I can't rule out what you say. I can only say it is different from what I experience. Statements concerning the phenomenology of the mind can be assigned a truth value but he basis for that assignment is necessarily personal.
Perhaps neuroscience and the study of consciousness will take us beyond this stage in our knowledge of the mind, but it sure isn't there yet.
