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Pastimes : The Boxing Ring Revived
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To: Lane3 who wrote (6525)6/21/2003 6:43:12 PM
From: The Philosopher  Read Replies (1) of 7720
 
But the concept of
certainty is different from the concepts of believing and supposing and probability.

But that's just the point -- there IS no certainty. There is ONLY probability or belief.

For example, I can say that I know that I was born on June 13th. But I don't really know that. All I know is that I was told that. And even then I could be remembering wrong, or have heard wrong, or whatever.

I can say that I know that the sun will rise in the East tomorrow. But I really don't. It's probable, that's all. Highly probable. Some very, very weird things would have to happen for it not to rise in the East. But it still could.

We use the terms "certainty" and "know" for things for which our belief is so strong that we are essentially incapable in any rational sense of questioning them. For example, I "know" that if I put my hand on a red hot stove burner and hold it there, it will hurt. But in reality, I really don't know that with absolute certainty.

And even if I do put my hand on the burner and it hurts like heck, I can't know with absolute certainty that it was the burner that made it hurt. In theory, it could have been a total coincidence.

The point? Simply that some people "know" that God exists with the same degree of certainty that I "know" that I will get hurt if I put my hand on the burner. That's the problem you're facing, IMO.
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