The Agnostic’s Exit Strategy (Agnosticism)

by Cary Cook , Friday, June 27, 2008, 07:25 (5992 days ago) @ dhw

Thank you. This is good, but I'm going to continue probing your epistemology until we're synchronized enough to talk meaningfully about objective reality. And though it may not be as fun as subjective discussion, it's more valuable, because much of it can be figured out and known, rather than just speculated about. - I'm glad you see that a concept can be objective in one sense, and subjective in another. - Do you agree that some concepts may exist only in minds, yet still be objective in the sense that they are not subject to opinion? E.g. numbers - Do you agree that some statements may be about purely mental things, yet still be objective in the sense that they are not subject to opinion? E.g. mathematical equations, valid syllogisms, - Do you agree that statistical probability is objective, though non-statistical probability judgment is subjective?
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Do you disagree with anything I said in my Atheism Definition essay below? - Any rational declarative statement is (ontologically) either true or false. In epistemological terms, a statement known to be true is called certain; a statement known to be false is called impossible (at least in the particular instance denoted by the statement). If you don't know if a statement is true or false, three other epistemological categories are added, making a total of five, which can be listed in terms of percentages of probability (or likelihood if you prefer). - 1.	100% likely = certain 
2.	less than 100% and more than 50% likely = probable 
3.	50% likely = even probability, or equal chance 
4.	less than 50% and more than 0% likely = improbable 
5.	0% likely = impossible - These five are the epistemological categories that exist, despite the fact that language (at least English) labels them poorly. e.g. - •	Certainty is sometimes seen as a subset of probability, rather than a separate category. 
•	Impossibility is sometimes seen as a subset of improbability, rather than a separate category. 
•	Anything less than 100% likely is called uncertain. 
•	Anything more than 0% likely is called possible. 
•	50% likelihood doesn't even have a name in English, so we have to make up terms like "toss up." 
•	The term, impossible, is ambiguous. It can mean: in this particular instance, or under any circumstances. - And this reveals that all five of the categories can mean: in this particular instance, or under any circumstances. We just have to trust context and common sense to determine which meaning is intended.
But setting these language difficulties aside as much as possible, if the truth of proposition X is in question, and the meaning of proposition X is clear, then proposition X is one of the following: - 1.	certain 
2.	probable 
3.	a toss up 
4.	improbable 
5.	impossible