on certainty 353

353. But suppose he said “I want to make a logical observation”? – If a forester goes into a wood with his men and says “This tree has got to be cut down, and this one and this one” – what if he then observes “I know that that’s a tree? – But might not I say of the forester “He knows that that’s a tree – he doesn’t examine it, or order his men to examine it”?

if he says ‘I know that’s a tree’ –

he corrupts a straightforward assertion – ‘that’s a tree’ –

with irrelevant rhetoric –

and if you say –

‘he knows that that’s a tree’ –

you do the same

regardless of what is examined or not –

with or without rhetoric –

any proposition – any proposal –

is open to question –

open to doubt –

is uncertain

© greg t. charlton. 2010.