![]() I think I see, yet I am not absolutely sure. Then how can you consistently maintain that my beliefs in all these false statements are not erroneous?īecause, as I told you, you don't believe any of them. You told me that every one of those statements is false. Just simply recall the infinite sequence of sentences: (1) I believe this book is red (2) I believe that I believe this book is red and so forth. Hey, take it easy! Please try to recall: When did I say or imply that any of your beliefs are erroneous? Good God, I was prepared to admit all my errors, and now you tell me that my beliefs are not errors what are you trying to do, drive me crazy? Why do you say that your beliefs are erroneous?īut you have been telling me this all the while! However, you must admit that it is a little hard on me to realize that I am entertaining infinitely many erroneous beliefs! Well, this has been a most enlightening experience. And again, no matter how many times you iterate "I believe," all these belief sentences are false. Just a moment while I scan the dials of the brain-reading machine-no, the statement is false.Īnd what about "I believe that I believe that the book is red"?Īlso false. I retract the statement "It seems red to me" and instead I assert "I believe that this book is red." Is this statement true or false? This is fantastic! Suppose instead of the phrase "it seems like" I would say "I believe that." So let us start again at ground level. Wrong again! And no matter how many times you reiterate the phrase "it seems like" and follow it by "the book is red" you will be wrong. ![]() Really? It doesn't even seem that it seems red to me? It sure seems like it seems like it seems red to me! Goodness gracious, I really could have sworn that the book seemed red to me it sure seems that it seems read to me! I thus can read your every sensation and thought, and it is a simple objective truth that this book does not seem red to you. I have constructed a brain-reading machine-known technically as a cerebroscope-that is operative right now in this room and is scanning every nerve cell in your brain. I simply did the one obvious thing which should be done, viz. How could you possibly decide such things empirically? While other epistemologists have been solemnly arguing such questions as whether a man can be wrong when he asserts that he believes such and such, I have discovered how to settle such questions experimentally. But the trouble with all past epistemologists is that they have been using wholly theoretical methods, and much of their discussion degenerates into mere word games. Epistemology is the true foundation of philosophy. Metaphysical problems about "mind" versus "matter" arise only from epistemological confusions. ![]() Private mental states! Metaphysical hogwash! Look, I am a practical epistemologist. All you said was that it seems red to you, and it is this statement which is wrong.īut you can't say that the statement "It seems red to me" is wrong.īut surely I know what color the book seems to me!īut nobody knows better than I how things seem to me.īut how could you have access to my private mental states? I obviously couldn't have meant that you were wrong in that it is red, since you did not say that it is red. Let me get this clear did you mean that I was wrong that this book is red, or that I was wrong that it seems red to me? (You will soon find out what that means!) The epistemologist holds up a book and also asks, "What color is this book?" Now, Frank has been earlier dismissed by the eye doctor as "cured." However, he is now of a very analytical and cautious temperament, and will not make any statement that can possibly be refuted. (A few weeks later.) Frank is in a laboratory in the home of an experimental epistemologist. But fortunately your condition is curable, and I will have you in perfect shape in a couple of weeks." The doctor holds up a book and asks "What color is it?" Frank answers, "Red." The doctor says, "Aha, just as I thought! Your whole color mechanism has gone out of kilter. An Epistemological Nightmare An Epistemological Nightmareįrank is in the office of an eye doctor. ![]()
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