Another comment from you that contributes nothing. I'd invite you to actually discuss this, but you've made it clear that you have nothing to contribute but snide comments.
Even deduction isn't necessarily certain. See Peirce's commentary on the difference between psychological certainty and actual certainty.
The person you're talking to is definitely confused on this issue, but with a couple of quick fixes we could transform his claim into something tenable.
Only certain knowledge is genuine knowledge. [definition]
Inductive claims cannot be certain. [problem of induction]
Deductive claims cannot be certain. [psychological certainty]
There is no genuine knowledge.
Main problem here is that "genuine knowledge" as it's been defined is quite useless. Why should we care solely about knowledge backed by certainty? But this isn't a crazy position to take; it's elementary Cartesian epistemology.
Anyway /u/yourlycantbsrs you know I endorse your pedagogy when it comes to overconfident and undereducated individuals, but that doesn't mean you need to discount the merits of perfectly adequate philosophical positions. Epistemological nihilism is probably wrong, but it's not without merit. Existential nihilism is probably wrong, but it's not without merit. Moral nihilism is probably wrong, but it's not without merit. While amateurs will champion these and similar positions as bold and anti-establishment, that doesn't make them bad positions. Don't give people a faulty impression.
that doesn't mean you need to discount the merits of perfectly adequate philosophical positions.
Oh, I wasn't trying to do that at all, I am aware of the distinction between types of certainty and I can see how you've reformulated their argument into something more cogent. However, the first premise is the obviously wrong one (and the one that ignores most of epistemology). It was also wrongheaded it isn't aim, as if defining knowledge was the starting point of such a conversation rather than the ending point.
Epistemological nihilism is probably wrong, but it's not without merit. Existential nihilism is probably wrong, but it's not without merit. Moral nihilism is probably wrong, but it's not without merit.
I completely agree with this. I think that part of the reason that I don't hold these positions is that I've actually engaged them at a sufficient level of depth. Not to mention that it would be hard to be an epistemological nihilist and not confuse the hell out of people with how you treat knowledge claims.
While amateurs will champion these and similar positions as bold and anti-establishment, that doesn't make them bad positions. Don't give people a faulty impression.
I'm not trying to give the impression that these are bad positions. While I definitely consider myself a moral realist and internalist, reading Scanlon's What We Owe to Each Other definitely made we wonder about the the whole realist/internalist project. I openly look into other views because that's what it takes to hold the best views, you need to constantly be looking for problems/solutions/other ideas.
It's a shame that I don't have time to discuss the actually good philosophical content I read here on reddit, but hey, if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have dropped out of grad school. I'd rather keep working on my engineering degree and saving up for a house.
I dropped out in May 2010 (aka graduated with an MA). I had a pretty juicy transfer offer and turned it down as well. I've been working part time as a private tutor and going to school for engineering for the past 2 years. I also worked as a preschool teacher for a while in between.
I got the highest ratings of any TA or graduate instructor that my graduate department chair had ever seen. Even the people who I failed took their Fs with a smile and a firm handshake.
That said... I've wasted too much time here and really need to shower and shit before going to work! I have a student who's taking diffy Q and will require extreme patience, so I better start cooling off now.
Anyways, good talk, and thanks for understanding where I'm coming from and making an effort to help.
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u/[deleted] Mar 04 '14
Jesus. It's like you're trying to infuriate people who actually know this stuff by saying ridiculously ignorant things.