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Author Topic:   Philosophy of Ideas
Straggler
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Posts: 10333
From: London England
Joined: 09-30-2006


(2)
Message 42 of 44 (844615)
12-02-2018 5:52 PM
Reply to: Message 41 by Phat
12-02-2018 12:36 PM


Re: What Is Evidence?
Epistemology. The philosophy of how we know things, how we can acquire knowledge. It basically comes down to what methods of knowledge acquisition are reliable and which arent and how we determine that.
The use of evidence leads to conclusions that can be demonstrated as correct and which themselves lead to more evidence and discoveries of new phenomena. An interwoven web of interrelated knowledge is constructed over time. That is our experience over the course of human history and shapes that which qualifies as evidence along with the best ways to utilise it.
The reason I would not deem patterns in tea leaves (for example) as evidence is because reading patterns in tea leaves has no demonstrable success at telling us anything correct. If tea leaf prophets started consistently predicting events successfully and accurately I would have to reconsider my position on this. But as things stand if a tea leaf reader told me I was going to die next week I’d be pretty unworried because it’s clearly just unevidenced bollocks.
Likewise if a tea leaf reader told me that their readings indicated the existence of an unknowable unseeable omnipotent being sitting outside of time I’d be similarly unimpressed and dismissive of their claims. For the same reason as above. It’s unevidenced bollocks no mattter how convinced the tea leaf reader is of their readings.
So what evidence are you claiming here and why should we treat it any more or less dismissively than tea leaf reading (for example)?
Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 41 by Phat, posted 12-02-2018 12:36 PM Phat has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 43 by Phat, posted 12-04-2018 2:53 AM Straggler has replied

  
Straggler
Member
Posts: 10333
From: London England
Joined: 09-30-2006


Message 44 of 44 (844692)
12-04-2018 4:28 AM
Reply to: Message 43 by Phat
12-04-2018 2:53 AM


Re: What Is Evidence?
You call it evidence in a post called ‘What is evidenced in a thread about philosophy. You really need to explain what you mean by evidence and why these experiences you cite qualify as such in a way tea leaf patterns or sheep’s entrails or drug induced visions or any of the multitude of other things humans have cited throughout the ages as ways of knowing, do not? Or would you accept those things as evidence too?
A) What are these experiences? Can you be more explicit? Visions, voices, feelings?
B) Is there anything else you believe in the existence of external to your own mind based on this same form of evidence? Or is it only God?
C) Are these experiences demonstrably superior to tea leaf readings as a form of evidence? Or is that just your personal conviction?
Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 43 by Phat, posted 12-04-2018 2:53 AM Phat has not replied

  
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