on certainty 420

420. Even a proposition like this one, that I am now living in England, has these two sides: it is not a mistake – but on the other hand, what do I know of England? Can’t my judgment go all to pieces?

Would it not be possible that people came into my room and all declared the opposite? – even gave me ‘proofs’ of it, so that I suddenly stood there like a madman alone among people who all were normal, or a normal person alone among madmen? Might I not then suffer doubts about what at present seems at the furthest from remove from doubt?

the ground of any judgment – is uncertainty

and whether a judgment does or does not ‘go all to pieces’ –

will depend on circumstances

in the event of the madman scenario –

if you understand that all judgments are uncertain –

then you will see that you are all in the same boat

regardless of numbers –

and regardless of so called ‘proofs’

in the event of conflict –

what wins the day will be what people assent to

and of course –

you can always go it alone

© greg t. charlton. 2010.