RE: MD Rorty and Darwin

From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sun Aug 17 2003 - 17:25:10 BST

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    Andy, Matt and all:

    Andy said:
    Your assertion that the tribunal is a "ghost" might be the most accurate
    description, because--as I mentiones earlier--the tribunal is a metaphor.
    It permeates our culture in the myths we live by. It is all around us.
    Science is based on it. History. Mathematics. What this myth (western
    science, culture, philosophy) tells us is that if we use the proper
    methodology we can get closer to the Truth. That there is a Truth out
    there. ...

    dmb says:
    Let me try this another way. Let's take Descartes as an example because
    almost everybody is familiar with him and his most famous idea is discussed
    in Lila. As I understand it, this frog was famous for coming to the
    conclusion that the only thing he could really be sure of was his own
    existence. "I think, therefor I am." It has been asserted here that he is
    one of many who believe "that if we use the proper methodology we can get
    closer to the Truth, with a capital "T". Now how do we reconcile this
    assertion with Descartes' own claim that he could know almost nothing at
    all, except that exists!? These two positions are so very far away from each
    other that they are approximately opposite positions. And this is just one
    of the many reasons why this claim seems so outlandish to me.

    Thanks,
    dmb

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