| appolose said:
And, by sense data judgement, I mean that deciding certain object exists based upon certain sense data, a decision that arbitrary (and perhaps I should clarify here: I do not mean deciding that the sense data exclusively represents the object you've assumed exists, because it can represent anything). |
I think that perhaps you've misunderstood the jist of what I've been trying to ask. You seem to claim that there are two types of data--sense data, and Other (which is some undefined way you believe you acquire language, logic, etc., and that you think is irrelevant to our discussion).
The judgements based on sense data, you hold to be arbitrary, and inherently "uncertain"; but judgements based on Other, you think can be certain.
Well, how do you know which data is sense data, and which data is Other? How do you know if one of your judgements is based off of sense data, or if it's based off of Other? How do you know that sense data is coming from some place that's different from wherever Other is coming from (since you don't know where Other is coming from)?
I think it becomes an arbitrary distinction, unless we posit certain "sensory organs" or certain mechanisms by which we get certain data (like that the sky is blue) but not other data (logic, definition). But why would we posit sensory organs/mechanisms? According to your beliefs, I'd find such a supposition arbitrary.
In other words, if we were just "a brain floating in a vat recieving electrical stimuli," then it would seem to me that we should treat all of our judgements equally. Or don't you think that a brain in a vat could be led to believe that x is equal to not-x? (Hell, I knew some kids in college who thought as much...)
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And with that, I think I've expressed myself just about as well as I can manage on these topics. Unless I see something else that calls out and manages to drag me back in, I'll let myself rest for a bit. :)
If I wind up leaving it at this, thank you again for the thought-provoking discussion.
ETA: Oh hell, just a little bit more, for kicks:
I propose a small thought experiment. Imagine a person born completely insensate--no sight, smell, hearing, etc. Would such a person know what a "bachelor" was (iirc, an unmarried man, right)? Would such a person be able to perform simple arithmetic? Would he know that x = x?
If it seems like he would not know any of those things, then again: where does definition, logic, etc., come from, if not from judgements based on sense data?
