Philosophy For Dummies. Tom Morris
been relentless in asking: How do you know all that you think you know, or even any of it? How can you be rational in believing anything? Should you suspend belief about everything, or at least nearly everything? Sextus Empiricus suggested in his time that everyone should simply live in accordance with appearances, without ever concluding that appearances reliably indicate realities. You might wonder whether this is the reaction you should have to the skeptic’s questions and your amazing inability to answer them. But perhaps there is an alternative to take.
There is an interesting and powerfully rational option. Skepticism can teach you an important lesson, but it need not shut you down as a believer. Without believing that their own words have certain meanings rather than others, the ancient skeptics could not even formulate their own questions and challenges. And neither can you. Belief is necessary for everyone, and it’s also inevitable in human life. Perhaps, after all, it’s even supremely rational.
Where Do You Go from Here?
So how do you in fact know that your basic belief-forming mechanisms like sense experience, memory, and testimony are ever reliable? How can it be rational to believe that the world has been around for more than five minutes, or that life is not all one big dream or computer simulation, or that there is no supernaturally powerful evil demon hypnotizing you right now with misleading experiences? How can you reasonably believe there will be a future? These are typically among everyone’s most basic beliefs or assumptions. Where do these convictions then come from, and what certifies them? If you can come to understand this, it may also give you a crucially important perspective on all the other Big Questions you’ll be considering in this book. For these perhaps unexpected answers, turn as soon as possible to Chapter 6 and read. You won’t be dreaming.
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