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2 ideas
4298 | All items of possible human knowledge are interconnected, and can be reached by inference [Descartes] |
Full Idea: All the items of knowledge that lie within the reach of the human mind are linked together with a marvellous bond, and can be derived from each other by necessary inferences. | |
From: René Descartes (unfinished dialogue [1649]) | |
A reaction: It does seem that God ought to be able to infer all empirical facts from first principles. But how do you get started? |
12129 | 'Truth' may only apply within a theory [Kuhn] |
Full Idea: 'Truth' may, like 'proof', be a term with only intra-theoretic applications. | |
From: Thomas S. Kuhn (Reflections on my Critics [1970], §5) | |
A reaction: I think we can blame Tarski (via Quine, Kuhn's teacher) for this one. I take it to be an utter failure to grasp the meaning of the word 'truth' (and sneakily substituting 'satisfaction' for it). For a start, we have to compare theories on some basis. |