One's Own Theory

How can we determine what is true and what is false if not through empirical evidence? How can we get from belief to knowledge except through objective evidence and reasoning?If something becomes true by the mere act of uttering it then what good is truth?

Why wouldn't it require empirical evidence?Let's take something like, "Mickey Mouse flies UFO's."Wouldn't you want empirical evidence before you accepted this as true? Or would my simple utterance of the claim make it true? What if I pointed to a book where someone else makes the same claim, but with no evidence. Would that make it true?Edited by Taq, : No reason given.

There is a problem with that statement. We know that Einstein's Theory of relativity is true (in a tentative scientific way). We now know that Einstein's theories have always been true even when we had no evidence that they were true. Paraphrasing Stephen Jay Gould, apples did not suspend themselves in mid air waiting for experiments to determine whether Newton or Einstein were right.The question is how we KNOW that something is true? How do we determine whether something is true or not? How do we go from belief to knowledge? Do we use our own subjective preferences to judge what is true or not? Or should we use objective evidence and reasoning? Can you think of any bit of knowledge that is based on belief alone?

Certainty gained through verification. Both experience and books are not the same as belief. Can you give an example? If I believe that the Earth is a cube does it become knowledge because I believe it?

We could make this more empirical. We could set up a test where someone was offered one of two choices. They could have 100 dollars or denounce their country. Only the interviewer would be privy to each individual's choice and their identity would be kept private so there are no social ramifications. People who forgo personal gain in order to not disparage their country would be considered loyal.

We would have to agree beforehand that those who did not take the money were loyal. We would predict that if there were loyal people that some of the people tested would not take the money. We then test the hypothesis, and the results of the experiment would be independent of either of our beliefs. This experiment demonstrated, empirically, that people will ignore their own judgement if someone in authority tells them to.

It means that you are not a loyal person.