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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (78851)	11/11/2003 11:30:39 AM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

This does not mean that omniscience, omnipresence, spirit, and so forth might not exist--just that to give such a conjecture equal weight to the scientific observations which evidence reality for us is to be intellectually evasive if not dishonest-at least it is for me, if not for others. I don't think I have or would give opinions about supernatural things for which we have no direct evidence equal weight with well supported scientific observations. But not everything is covered by well supported scientific observations and I don't think everything ever will be. Science describes the physical/natural world. It doesn't provide evidence for or against anything beyond the physical/natural world. Also while scientific evidence can be used in a philosophical debate science can not answer philosophical questions, and it doesn't prove logic but rather depends on it. It doesn't contradict or belittle science to say that it doesn't cover every type of question. Nobody can be absolutely sure of anything. Thus, saying "I don't know" in all matters is bereft of meaning. Yes in a certain abstract way of thinking no one can be sure of anything, but "I don't know" is still very useful and meaningful. When people say "I don't know" they usually are not talking about the notion that everything we think we know might be false. I know how many toes I have and what my name is and what I had for lunch yesterday. I don't know how to speak Cantonese, who will be president of the United States in 2020, the full list of all the names of the Roman emperors, how many sapient sentient species there are in the universe, or if God (or any god/divine force) exists. My guess is that you don't know any of these things either. If you don't know if something exists you can believe it exists, suspect it exists, be truly uncertain and on the fence, be skeptical, or believe it doesn't exist. Tim