From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Mon Sep 06 1999 - 19:04:33 MDT
From: Joseph Sterlynne <vxs@mailandnews.com>
>If philosophy defines the terms used in science what, then, is the means by
>which these philosophical arguments are made? It seems that all
>philosophical questions ultimately become translated into scientific ones.
>This is readily apparent if one looks at the philosophy of mind literature
>today. But what is the argument that this is not happening or will not
>happen to that more general truth-searching or -defining sector of
>philosophy? That, too, is translatable into empirical terms. If you want
>to know the conditions of truth you have to know what the knower of truth
>knows. So you have to know the construction of the knower. For philosophy
>to judge the foundations of logic it must use some formal system. Which
>logic does it use?
Sorry about posting twice to the same question, Joseph, but I needed to
adjust my attitude since the last message, and now I can see how absurdly I
responded earlier.
I failed to come close to answering your question. You ask, "Which logic
does it use?"
That didn't even register the first time around. So, you believe in more
than one logic. Good, that gives J. R. pause... I'll try to shift to a
different logic. Wait for it... Ah! <WHATIF>
Okay, now I can think in What If mode.
What if everything that can happen has already happened; not once, but an
infinite number of times?
</WHATIF>
Whew! That cleared it up. Of course an SI would figure that out in a
nanosecond. (And not just once, but an infinite number of times in an
infinite number of nanoseconds.)
I don't know how long it took Nietzsche to figure it out, but morphic
resonance, according to Rupert Sheldrake (gadfly of silly science), probably
makes it much easier for the rest of us to learn of it. I think Friedrich
called it "Eternal Recurrence" or something. It first occurred to me in my
teens, and revisited me with its stunning implications again a few years
later.
Scientifically, this hypothesis doesn't matter. Philosophically, this
hypothesis removes the need to philosophize... and once again, science wins.
---------------------------------------
"Make the fog flee before you!
To the extent that we resort to the use of words,
we no longer refer to reality."
--Alligator Grundy
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