Struan:
Since you entertain no philosophical understanding other than that provided
by logic, and since you name Bertrand Russell as one of your philosophical
heroes, you can imagine my amusement when I read in your 10 April post to
Roger . . .
�You demonstrably can have a universe without a human being - check the
fossil record if you don�t believe me.�
. . . and then compared what you consider this indisputable truth to the
following quote from your hero:
�There is no logical impossibility in the view that the world was created five
minutes ago, complete with memories and records. That may seem an
improbable hypothesis, but it is not logically refutable.�
Seems your �empirical proof� of an independent reality is logically-challenged.
Your plea at the end of your post, �Somebody tell me I haven�t gone stark
staring bonkers, please� sounds like what I said on first encountering the
quantum world. Some of the things science claims goes on there are really
off the wall, such as a particle being in two places at once.
I don�t claim to understand a whole lot about quantum mechanics. But one
thing I do understand is that your assumption of an independent reality is no
longer viable, and that the purely logical, dualistic approach to reality you
support is hopelessly inadequate. To quote Whitehead:
�The old foundations of scientific thought are becoming unintelligible. Time,
space, matter, material, electricity, mechanism, organism, configuration,
structure, pattern, function, all require reinterpretation.�
Any philosopher today who fails to take into account Whitehead�s call for
needed reinterpretation exhibits--to borrow your phrase--�infuriating narrow-
mindedness.�
As far as I know, Pirsig is the only one to put moral values forward as the
Rosetta Stone for a new interpretation. Since he upsets the cherished
presumptions of academe, like Galileo upset the dicta of the church, I�m not
surprised at the vehemence of your protests.
Platt
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