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Old 03-05-2010, 01:53 AM   #54
ZenGum
Doctor Wtf
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Badelaide, Baustralia
Posts: 12,861
Hiya Crotalus, since you seem philosophically inclined, try David Lewis' article Elusive Knowledge. You may find your sceptical doubts are somewhat eased. He argues that what counts as a relevant consideration depends on the subject of inquiry - and so for everyday purposes we do have knowledge of the world, and it is only when philosophers start musing on the nature of reality and knowledge that sceptical scenarios become relevant considerations, and thus knowledge becomes "elusive".

I'd add that all sceptical positions require us to accept that some scenario is possible - Descartes' evil demon, the matrix, etc. All current accounts of modal epistemology make it piggyback on real epistemology, so how could a sceptic know that such a scenario is possible? Scepticism, like post-modernism, gets sucked down into a vicious regress of it's own creation.
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