'For the person or persons that hold dominion, can no more combine with the keeping up of majesty the running with harlots drunk or naked about the streets, or the performances of a stage player, or the open violation or contempt of laws passed by themselves than they can combine existence with non-existence'.

- Benedict de Spinoza. Political Treatise. 1677.




Wednesday, August 12, 2009

on certainty 103


103. And now if I were to say “It is my unshakable conviction that etc.”, this means in the present case too that I have not consciously arrived at the conviction by following a particular line of thought, but that it is anchored in all my questions and answers, so anchored that I cannot touch it.



‘so anchored that I cannot touch it’ –
                                                `
all you have to do to ‘touch it’ –

is to think about it

and to think about it –

is to question it

‘unshakable conviction’ –

is rhetorical rubbish


© greg t. charlton. 2010.