RE: Is evidentialism a dead philosophy?
May 15, 2014 at 11:42 am
(This post was last modified: May 15, 2014 at 11:48 am by Tea Earl Grey Hot.)
Two things I want to say after reading this thread.
1. I myself do not believe in the existence of other minds without evidence. There is evidence that I interpret to be consistent with the hypothesis "other minds exist besides my own." Does this mean then that I am absolutely 100% certain other minds exist? No. There's always a little doubt for me about the existence of other minds but all the evidence I can gather seems to be very strongly consistent with the other minds hypothesis.
2. There seems to be an equivocation between "assume" and "believe." To me at least, they're different. To assume something is true is to act as though it is true. To believe something is true is to experience the panning out of predictions that are inherent in that something. I assume (i.e. I act like) other minds absolutely exists for pragmatic reasons but I do not believe other minds exist with the same degree of certainty.
1. I myself do not believe in the existence of other minds without evidence. There is evidence that I interpret to be consistent with the hypothesis "other minds exist besides my own." Does this mean then that I am absolutely 100% certain other minds exist? No. There's always a little doubt for me about the existence of other minds but all the evidence I can gather seems to be very strongly consistent with the other minds hypothesis.
2. There seems to be an equivocation between "assume" and "believe." To me at least, they're different. To assume something is true is to act as though it is true. To believe something is true is to experience the panning out of predictions that are inherent in that something. I assume (i.e. I act like) other minds absolutely exists for pragmatic reasons but I do not believe other minds exist with the same degree of certainty.
My ignore list
"The lord doesn't work in mysterious ways, but in ways that are indistinguishable from his nonexistence."
-- George Yorgo Veenhuyzen quoted by John W. Loftus in The End of Christianity (p. 103).
"The lord doesn't work in mysterious ways, but in ways that are indistinguishable from his nonexistence."
-- George Yorgo Veenhuyzen quoted by John W. Loftus in The End of Christianity (p. 103).
