[lit-ideas] Re: Realism/Geary on Unreal Temperature
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:27:51 +0000 (GMT)
Clarifying what may in any case remain unclear:-
> when I see a table, the content of
> what I see is not an actual table but my perception of a
> table. [Try setting down supper on the content of what I see
> and you'll see Kant's point].
>
> But surely even if we accept this, it leaves open the
> question of whether that content accurately corresponds to
> some non-p R that lies beyond it?
>
> If so, we may accept "one can’t perceive R" without
> having to accept the view that 'One can never compare p with
> R, for there is no way of perceiving R.’
Though the quotations are lifted from RP's post, given the distinction drawn
between pR (the aspects of Reality that are perceived) and non-pR (the aspects
of Reality that lie beyond or outside of what exists in perception), it should
be emphasised that in the paragraph above the meaning of R is "non-pR" - for
clearly we can and do perceive what exists as a matter of our perception e.g.
what is presented to me now as my visual field is something that exists as a
presented visual field and so is part of pR which can be perceived.
Amplified further:- the contention of the above paragraph is that, from the
assumption that we cannot perceive non-pR, it does not follow that we cannot
compare [or contrast] the content of p with a [conjectured] non-pR.
For example, while my senses may deceive me that the table I am writing at is a
certain colour in its 'non-pR' ding-an-sich state, they may be on better ground
in telling me that its solidity is such that it would hurt my forehead more
than writing this post were I to smash my head down on it.
Whether we regard this as a definitional truism or a truth of substantive
metaphysics may be left aside for the moment.
Donal
Shropshire
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