on certainty 503

503. I look at an object and say “That is a tree”, or “I know that that’s a tree”. –Now if I go nearer and it turns out that it isn’t, I may say “It wasn’t a tree after all” or alternatively I say “It was a tree but now it isn’t any longer”. But if all the others contradicted me, and said it never had been a tree, and if all the other evidences spoke against me – what good would it be to stick to my “I know”?

the ‘I know’ – is a claim to an authority for a proposition –

the only authority is authorship

therefore – ‘I know’ = ‘I am the author of …’

authorship does not guarantee a proposition –

and if you are the author of your proposition –

it is irrelevant and unnecessary to assert it

if you claim an authority – other than authorship –

your claim is false –

if it has rhetorical – persuasive effect –

it is an effect based on deception

so the real question is  – what good is ‘I know’ –

in any circumstance – in any usage?

a proposition is a proposal –

open to question – open to doubt –

whether or not  anyone agrees with it –

and prefacing it with ‘I know’ –

doesn’t alter this logical reality –

the reality of uncertainty

all it does is introduce an irrelevancy –

or a deception

© greg t. charlton. 2010.