The Agnostic’s Exit Strategy (Agnosticism)

by dhw, Friday, June 27, 2008, 15:05 (5776 days ago) @ Cary Cook

I submitted my answers to Cary's test on subjectivity/objectivity. - Cary: "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 delighted to have passed my first examination with a "good", but can't resist pointing out the subjectivity of your claim that things we can figure out and know are more "valuable" than things we can only speculate about. (Ugh, where have all my fellow speculators gone?) - However, like that dreadful Scotsman, I'm tied to the epistemological stake and bear-like I must fight the course. I appreciate the trouble you are taking in order to educate me, Cary. I've studied your list of statements and questions, and am OK with most of it ... possibly even with all of it, but that depends on where you're heading. The one thing I'm uneasy about is your probable/improbable percentages ... because I suspect you're setting me up for a big push on how to define "belief". You have twice ignored my weather forecast question (although I've been scrupulous about answering all your questions), and so in order to prepare the way for possible trouble, let me ask you again: if the weather forecast is a 51% chance of rain, would you actually say to anyone that it's probably going to rain, or that you believe it's going to rain? (If you refuse to answer, would you please tell me why.) - I like your qualification of the term impossible: "we just have to trust context and common sense to determine which meaning is intended." This applies to many of the terms we use, but it does create havoc when it comes to the Herculean task of fixing definitions. I shall wait in suspense for the next stage of my training.