on certainty 72

72. Not every false belief is this sort of mistake.

a false belief –

is a belief – you dissent from –

your dissent – like the belief itself –

is open to question –

open to doubt –

is uncertain 

logically speaking there are no mistakes –

if you are certain there cannot be a mistake

if on the other hand –

you recognize that your belief is uncertain

what you face is uncertainties –

not mistakes

‘mistake’ is a commonly used word –

it’s a word you might use –

when you haven’t thought the matter through

once subjected to analysis –

the ‘mistake’ is shown to have no place –

in the epistemological debate –

concerning certainty and uncertainty

once subjected to analysis –

the ‘mistake’ –

disappears

© greg t. charlton. 2010.