Often analogies can be good ways of communicating. If it is raining heavily I could say “it’s raining heavily” or perhaps I could use an analogy “it’s raining cats & dogs”. This a perfectly reasonable use of analogy to underline the point I wish to make with perhaps greater force and imagery. However, analogies are … Continue reading Is an Argument from Analogy Helpful
Category: Knowledge
Intuition: Its Pros and Cons
It is a common human failing that we assume we have knowledge of facts that we can't possibly have. We often describe this is as our intuition. Sometimes we leap to a conclusion and when we look for evidence we find there is ample, well-founded sources to support this leap. In this way we could … Continue reading Intuition: Its Pros and Cons
How Can We Gain Knowledge
How can we ever know the truth or validity of any claim? How can we gain knowledge? There would appear to be three potential sources to affirm the truth ofd any claim: Supporting evidence. Divine inspiration/revelation. Majority Opinion I know of no other ways to affirm the truth of claims, but if you can please … Continue reading How Can We Gain Knowledge
Truth: A Figment of Our Imagination?
In daily life we act and assume that the truth is accessible and in many cases, we know it. We base our law enforcement and courts on the premise that the truth of any matter can be determined in court. Our politicians trade in truth, claiming they are bastions of truth whereas their opposition are … Continue reading Truth: A Figment of Our Imagination?
Falsifiability
We can categorise ideas and statements into two types: Those that are falsifiable. Those that are not falsifiable. A falsifiable statement is one that it is possible, in principle, to be wrong. We may not be able to prove it right, but we can prove it wrong. For example, if I say "I have a … Continue reading Falsifiability