more from Charles Sanders Peirce

Single Idea 6949

[catalogued under 7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 4. Anti-realism]

Full Idea

Nobody can really doubt that there are Reals, for, if he did, doubt would not be a source of dissatisfaction.

Clarification

By 'Reals' he means an external reality

Gist of Idea

If someone doubted reality, they would not actually feel dissatisfaction

Source

Charles Sanders Peirce (The Fixation of Belief [1877], p.19)

Book Reference

Peirce,Charles Sanders: 'Philosophical Writings of Peirce', ed/tr. Buchler,Justus [Dover 1940], p.19


A Reaction

This rests on Peirce's view that all that really matters is a sense of genuine dissatisfaction, rather than a theoretical idea. So even at the end of Meditation One, Descartes isn't actually worried about whether his furniture exists.