659. “I cannot be making a mistake about
the fact that I have just had lunch.,”
For if I say to someone “I have just eaten”
he may believe that I am lying or have momentarily lost my wits but he won’t
believe that I am making a mistake. Indeed, the assumption that I might be
making a mistake has no meaning here.
But that isn’t true. I might for example,
have dropped off immediately after the meal without knowing it and have slept
for an hour, and now I believe I had just eaten.
But still, I distinguish here between
different kinds of mistake.
‘the mistake’ –
has no role to play here –
if you are certain – there is no mistake –
and if you are uncertain –
what you are dealing with –
is
uncertainties –
not mistakes –
this ‘concept’ – if you can call it that –
of the ‘mistake’ –
just simply – does not work –
in either epistemological setting –
it’s a dud
© greg t. charlton. 2010.
