Ok, I'm about to be a wiki spouting dweeb, but have you guys read the wiki on epistemology lately? Fascinating stuff. Reading it last night was like attending a posh cocktail party where I don't belong and then all of sudden recognizing many old friends.
First, a lengthy explanation of "know-how vs. know-that" (didya know that some languages make this distinction, including Scottish?) And then I came across this: "Though Descartes could doubt his senses, his body and the world around him, he could not deny his own existence, because he was able to doubt and must exist in order to do so. Even if some "evil genius" were to be deceiving him, he would have to exist in order to be deceived. However from this Descartes did not go as far as to define what he was. This was pointed out by the materialist philosopher Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) who accused Descartes of saying that he was "not this and not that," while never saying what exactly was existing. One could argue that this is not an edifying question, because it doesn't matter what exactly exists, it only matters that it does indeed exist." John} One could argue alternatively, I suppose, that it doesn't matter at all what does indeed exist, but it matters much "what exactly exists". As in, "the myriad things arise and confirm the self" - a proper refutation of the dearly Descarted, imo. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
