Single Idea 8794

[catalogued under 12. Knowledge Sources / E. Direct Knowledge / 1. Common Sense]

Full Idea

Radical foundationalism suffers from two weaknesses: there are not so many perfectly obvious truths as Descartes thought; and if we restrict ourselves to what it truly obvious, very little supposed common sense knowledge can be proved.

Gist of Idea

There are very few really obvious truths, and not much can be proved from them

Source

Ernest Sosa (The Raft and the Pyramid [1980], §3)

Book Reference

'Epistemology - An Anthology', ed/tr. Sosa,E. /Kim,J. [Blackwell 2000], p.136


A Reaction

It is striking how few examples can ever be found of self-evident a priori truths. However, if there are self-evident truths about direct experience (pace Descartes), that would give us more than enough.