162. In general I take as a rule what I found in text books,
of geography for example. Why? I say: All these facts have been confirmed a
hundred times over. But how do I know that? What is my evidence for it? I have
a world-picture. Is it true or false? Above all it is the substratum of all my
enquiring and asserting. The propositions describing it are not all equally
subject to testing.
‘I have a world-picture.’ –
then presumably you can state it –
in the form of a proposition
is it true or false?
if you assent to it – it’s true –
and presumably you do –
if you ‘have’ it
the substratum of all my enquiring and asserting?
if by ‘substratum’ you mean –
that which is beyond question –
beyond doubt –
there is no such thing –
no such proposition
the actual substratum of enquiry and assertion –
is uncertainty
we use many different ‘pictures’ –
many different propositions –
all of which are open to question –
open to doubt
and the testing of any proposition –
is an exploration –
of uncertainty
all propositions – all proposals
–
are equally subject –
to doubt
© greg t. charlton. 2010.
