131. The comparison between memory and a notebook.
How did I read off from the memory image that I stood thus at the window
yesterday?
What made you so certain when you spoke those words? Nothing; I was certain.
How do I react to a memory?
‘The comparison between memory
and a notebook’?
is the comparison between
different propositions –
the one described in terms of
memory – the other in terms of a physical object – the note book –
we have two propositions with
different provenances –
different back stories –
whatever the philosophical
history of a proposition –
whatever philosophical clothing
it wears –
as a proposition – it is open to
question – open to doubt –
any comparison between the two –
will at the very least illustrate that there is no one way of approaching – of
describing – our experience – our reality
we have developed different
propositional forms to deal with a reality – that in the absence of proposal –
is unknown
we approach the unknown with
uncertainty – and in so doing create and explore possibilities –
the result – a rich and
fascinating human reality
‘How did I read off from the memory image that I stood thus at the
window yesterday?
it is not that ‘I read off from
the memory image’ –
it might indeed seem that way –
be often represented that way – I may represent it to myself that way
logically it is the other way
around –
there is the initial proposal – ‘I stood thus at the window yesterday’ –
I put forward the memory proposal – to account for the initial proposal
‘What made you so certain when you spoke those words? Nothing; I was certain’?
a proposition is open to question
– open to doubt – is uncertain
the claim of certainty has no
basis in logic
it’s basis is just plain
ignorance – or it is a con – a rhetorical con
does anyone seriously suggest
that memory is a repository of certainty?
How do I react to a memory?
you can react logically i.e. with common sense – and regard a ‘memory proposal’ – as open to
question open to doubt – as uncertain –
or you can be ignorant and not question
we do both
© greg t. charlton. 2015.
