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To: JF Quinnelly who wrote (945)	1/6/1997 2:32:00 PM
From: Father Terrence	of 4006

JFQ: Thanks for the posting on inductivism. As you can see, however, the methods described rely on the creation of hypothesis derived from quantifiable data. Each hypothesis is only an approximate, a "generalization", as noted by Moreland. Yet few contest that this is how knowledge is built and reality defined: through observation and trial and error. (Those that contest this process also question the validity of existance, the mind and reality itself.) Even if reality is perceived wrong (Newton's concept of gravity versus Einstein's) you often have a workable model to define reality and make progress until a more refined concept based on more (or new) data is created. This does not necessarily negate or even modify earlier data. Sometimes it just expands the conceptual picture of the area of knowledge in question. The bottom line is reality -- true reality -- will always force any hypothesis to the ultimate test over a period of time. Faith is based on wishful thinking and the believers challenge skeptics to prove negatives (cannot be done) to disprove what they want to believe. Father Terrence

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