What do you know for sure and how do you know it?

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Compassionist
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What do you know for sure and how do you know it?

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Post by Compassionist »

I know for sure that I am a sentient being. I also know for sure that there are an infinite number of things that I want to do but cannot do due to a lack of abilities e.g. I want to make all living things forever happy but I can't. I also know that I am constantly doing things that I don't want to do e.g. sleep, dream, age, breathe, etc.

Everything else is unknown to me e.g. I don't know if the world I perceive through my senses is actually real or is simulated or is a hallucination.

What do you know for sure? How do you know for sure what you know for sure?

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Miles
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Re: What do you know for sure and how do you know it?

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Post by Miles »

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Back in college I had an entire philosophy course that was centered around Plato's Theaetetus, which is devoted to just this subject: knowledge. That knowledge involves true belief and that no one can know what is false. You can probably pick it up for a couple of bucks or so. (only 100+pages)

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Purple Knight
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Re: What do you know for sure and how do you know it?

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Post by Purple Knight »

We all trust our senses even if we say we don't. We trust them enough to act on them. There are not people who actually apply any of this "we actually can't know anything for sure" epistemology to real life and go off cliffs because the cliff might not really be there. If I see a cliff edge, I see it, and I try not to go over it. My actions are proof of my belief even though I may say otherwise.

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Re: What do you know for sure and how do you know it?

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Post by Compassionist »

Miles wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:33 pm .

Back in college I had an entire philosophy course that was centered around Plato's Theaetetus, which is devoted to just this subject: knowledge. That knowledge involves true belief and that no one can know what is false. You can probably pick it up for a couple of bucks or so. (only 100+pages)

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Thank you for the recommendation. I have read it for free online. Fascinating.

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Re: What do you know for sure and how do you know it?

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Post by Compassionist »

Purple Knight wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 8:38 pm We all trust our senses even if we say we don't. We trust them enough to act on them. There are not people who actually apply any of this "we actually can't know anything for sure" epistemology to real life and go off cliffs because the cliff might not really be there. If I see a cliff edge, I see it, and I try not to go over it. My actions are proof of my belief even though I may say otherwise.
I agree that we all treat our direct and indirect perceptions as if they are real.

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Re: What do you know for sure and how do you know it?

Post #6

Post by Compassionist »

There are three things I am 100% certain about:
1. I am a sentient being.
2. I can't do an infinite number of things even though I want to do them desperately e.g. make all living things forever happy, go back in time and prevent all suffering, injustice and deaths, make all living things all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful, etc.
3. I am constantly doing things I don't want to do e.g. sleeping, dreaming, aging, breathing, etc.

There is one thing I am 50% certain about:
1. The reality I perceive through my senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin) is actually real as opposed to being a simulation or a hallucination. This includes having a body, the existence of the universe, other organisms, etc.

There are some things I am 0% certain about:
1. Religions
2. Philosophy
3. Politics

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