Hi Horse:
I promised to rest my case for absolutes, but I can't resist responding
to your post in a way I know you'll especially appreciate, as follows:
The absolute truth is: The absolute truth does not exist.
But since we don't have absolute knowledge, how can we be certain
absolute truths don't exist?
Platt
> I couldn't resist this one. I should know better by now but.....
>
> On 22 Feb 2002 at 9:58, Platt Holden wrote:
>
> > Yes, science is ABSOLUTELY provisional. Pirsig admits of NO
> > exceptions.
>
> From the Concise oxford Dictionary
>
> Provisional - providing for immediate needs only: temporary.
>
> Absolute - Unconditional, unlimited,
>
> So science is unconditionally temporary is it? Or is it absolutely
> non-absolute? Non- temporarily temporary maybe ? And here was me thinking
> you weren't too keen on post-modernism! :^)
>
> If something is absolutely true then there can be no exceptions but in
> order for this to be valid it is necessary to have absolute knowledge and
> as we don't have absolute knowledge of all things relating to science (or
> anything else for that matter) we can't be absolutely certain of the
> absolute nature of Science.
>
> Something can be absolutely true by definition (a batchelor is an unmarried
> man) or by logical derivation (X=X) but that's about as far as we can go
> with absolutes. Our knowledge of the world is incomplete and thus
> provisional so to make a statement about it's nature in absolute terms is
> non-sensical.
>
> But as I don't have absolute knowlege I could be wrong.
>
>
> Horse
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