648. I
may convince someone else that I ‘can’t be making a mistake’.
I say to
someone “So-and-so was with me this morning and told me such-and-such”. If this
is astonishing he may ask me: “You can’t be mistaken about it?” That may mean:
“Did that really happen this morning?”
or, on the other hand: “Are you sure you understood him properly?” It’s easy to
see what details I should add to show that I was not wrong about the time, and
similarly to show that I hadn’t misunderstood the story. But all that cannot
show that I haven’t dreamed the whole thing, or imagined it to myself in a
dreamy way. Nor can it show that I haven’t perhaps made some slip of the tongue throughout. (That
sort of thing does happen.)
perhaps you can convince others of your
statements –
but can you ever really know that?
and can you be sure – if you have convinced
them –
just what it is you have convinced them of?
convincing is a matter of persuasion – of
rhetoric –
I think better to forget about it
altogether –
say what you have to say – and leave it at
that –
there will always be doubt –
even with the so called ‘slip of the tongue’
–
doubt is a sign of philosophic health –
your proposition has a 50/50 chance –
run with it
© greg t. charlton. 2010.