Skip to main content

First steps

Johny Dee has done a post about my lame attempts to understand the concept of a 'foundational thought.' I say lame because I fear I'm no closer to following him. I'm not sure my response here can still be called a discussion of Foundationalism. I appear to be taking things in another direction entirely. For this I have to apologize and to admit my credentials in philosophy are somewhat slim: two undergrad courses (an introduction to logic and arguments, and an introduction to the philosophy of science) and a small pile of books on the subject, most of them of the survey type. John, on the other hand, has a lot more specialized schooling behind him. Nevertheless- I mentioned in my first post on the subject, that a belief in God might be a candidate for a foundational thought. It seemed to me, and I was thinking of Descartes when I wrote it, that being is the basic ontological building block, but being hasn't necessarily got awareness or thought. If we are thinking, we have to ask if we are justified in our thoughts. We have two choices, but the first one, not trusting our thoughts, leads nowhere. If we do accept our own rationality, it can only be justified by the existence of God. Note that we have not touched on Christianity at this point, merely benevolent monotheism. In the article John suggested to me, I take exception to this passage:
your belief that you have a headache isn't open to [doubt]. You may be awake or asleep, drunk or sober -- it makes no difference. If you believe that you have a headache, you are right. What is more, your belief is justified... When it comes to your headache, you are aware without any inference or possibility of slippage of the very factors that make your belief a true one.
I don't see how pain is different than any other kind of thought. You have to accept it as true, like anything else. Or you think it false, caused by Descartes' Demon, or Naturalistic causes or something else that is not justified. We are having a difference over the term 'thought.' Are sensations thoughts or not? As I am using the term, a sensation and a thought are interchangeable. I want to move on to some ideas from a book by Roger Scruton that I read and enjoyed a lot, An Intelligent Person's Guide to Philosophy. Scruton suggests that the way out of the dilemma Descartes gives us is to be found not in turning inwards, into ourselves (ie. sensation, self, etc.), but by turning outward. He calls this the 'private language argument':
[Philosophers] assume that they know what they mean by 'I' 'think' and 'self'; but this is precisely what they cannot assume. All is darkness in that 'inner world,' and who knows what resides there, or indeed, whether anything resides there at all? ... The argument tells us to stop seeking for the first person viewpoint, which asks what I can know and how I know it. It invites us to look at our situation from outside, and ask how things must be, if we are to suffer these philosophic doubts.... We can ask why and how only if we have a language in which to phrase them. And no language can refer to merely private things.
So our first step, faith, has given us justified thoughts, and a public, objective realm [language] in which to think them. This realm is not ontological truth, but it is still important because it gives us something other than ourselves with which to interact - other people, family, community. All of these are much larger than sensation, but I'm left wondering how one can think about anything smaller without invoking them. I hope I'm not off on a rail John. As you said in your post: "Belief in God is not basic. If it was basic, then asking why I believe it would be a silly question. " I think it is a silly question since it leads to a lot of trouble, as you admit. So why do people doubt it? There is a million dollar question. I would answer it with Original Sin, which impairs us quite badly. The first sin is Pride, which is first person view dependent. The third person is accessible but easily pushed aside by pride, sloth, avarice and so on. Btw, the 'enemies' entry for links has an odd Nixonian ring to it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reuters joins CNN on the bench

Makes room for CanWest to join the majors Kudos to CanWest for calling a terrorist a terrorist . Many, including The Last Amazon , will be happy to hear it. Reuters is among the worst of the major western news services, where I would also place the BBC and the CBC. Unsurprisingly, Reuters is not happy about the changes CanWest made to Reuters wire stories: Our editorial policy is that we don't use emotive words when labeling someone," said David A. Schlesinger, Reuters' global managing editor. "Any paper can change copy and do whatever they want. But if a paper wants to change our copy that way, we would be more comfortable if they remove the byline." Mr. Schlesinger said he was concerned that changes like those made at CanWest could lead to "confusion" about what Reuters is reporting and possibly endanger its reporters in volatile areas or situations. "My goal is to protect

Where credit is due

A good'un from Sawyer Brown . Thank God for You Well I've been called a self-made man Girl don't you believe it's true I know exactly how lucky I am When I'm gettin' this close to you It's high time I'm giving some praise To those that got me where I am today Chorus I got to thank momma for the cookin' Daddy for the whuppin' The devil for the trouble that I get into I got to give credit where credit is due I thank the bank for the money Thank God for you A strong heart and a willing hand That's the secret to my success A good woman - I try to be a good man A good job - Lord I know I've been blessed I'm just a part of a greater plan It doesn't matter which part I am Chorus I got to thank momma for the teachin' Daddy for the preachin' The devil for the trouble that I get into I got to give credit where credit is due I thank the bank for the money Thank God for you

A very limited form of inquiry

Real Clear Politics is carrying commentary on James Q. Wilson's WSJ article on ID (got that?). Wilson, the respected social scientist, gets it mostly right when he says that ID is not science because it can't be tested: So ID is not science. Does this mean that science, in any way, implies the non-existence of God? No. Does this mean that belief in God is irrational and that we should all be "free thinkers"? No. Does this mean that it is impossible to arbitrate between various theories of the existence/non-existence of God and come to some reasonable conclusions? No. Does this mean that we cannot say that humanity is meant to exist? No. In other words, rationality outside of science is quite possible, and has been around for a long time. How do you think humanity invented science in the first place? We surely did not do it scientifically. Science as we know it is the product of millennia of philosophical debate -- from Aristotle to Lakatos. Science depends upon phi