234. I believe that I have forebears, that
every human being has them. I believe that there are various cities, and, quite
generally, in the main facts of geography and history. I believe that the earth
is a body on whose surface we move and that it no more suddenly disappears or
the like than any other solid body: this table, this house, this tree etc. If I
wanted to doubt the existence of the earth long before my birth, I should have
to doubt all sorts of things that stand fast for me.
Wittgenstein
has all these beliefs –
and they
all function for him
to doubt
is to question
it does
not follow –
that if
he were to question these beliefs –
to doubt
them –
they
would cease to function for him
in fact
recognizing –
the intrinsic
uncertainty of his belief system –
may just
give him –
a deeper
understanding of his reality
© greg t. charlton. 2010.
