Kennethamy in response to something about certainty:
I did not say there was such a thing as objective certainty. I said objective certainty was what Descartes was aiming at, not subjective or psychological certainty. He did not care about that. People feel certain about all sorts of things, about which they later turn out to be wrong. And people feel certain about contrary things. Subjective certainty is of no epistemological interest. Descartes presented as his prime example of objective certainty, “I exist”. So, if you are going to deny there is such a thing as objective certainty, you have to deny you are objectively certain that you (yourself) exist. That is, that it would be possible for you to be mistaken about whether you exist. Do you think it would be possible for you to believe that you exist, and still not exist? For that is what it would be for you to be mistaken that you exist.
None of your pronouncements about certainty being a useful fiction really matter. You may think what you like. But you still have Descartes argument to wrestle with, and simply saying that objective certainty is a useful fiction, or the truth with a capital T is a fiction, will really not cut it. It is the argument that is the thing, and as Socrates said, “we must follow the argument wherever she leads us”. How do you handle Descartes’s argument that it is impossible to be mistaken about whether one exists, for in order to be mistaken, one must exist? Have you a reply?
Emil in response to the above:
Not quite sure that subjective certainty is of no epistemic interest, but otherwise I agree.
Kennethamy in response to the above:
Yes. I have been told over a trillion times not to exaggerate.
Emil in response to the above:
Hahahahaha. Priceless!