Cute desert island story. But seriously folks: I have never encountered a transcendental philosopher whose philosophy simply "assumed" anything transcendental. Or relied on empirical evidence to support her account. All, however, do rely on our Swiss Army Knives - yes the one with the cork screw -and we carry them religiously (though not to the airport). Still between terms but not for long, Dr. O. Quoting John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>: > On 6/17/06, Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > > > > --- wokshevs@xxxxxx wrote: > > > > > Quoting Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>: > > > > > > > > > > One question that one might put to the > > > > historicists/culturalists is, do they think that > > > their > > > > own ideas are only valid within their own > > > > geo-historical location ? > > > > > > You render the question as an empirical one, and, > > > hence, it is without any > > > philosophical interest. The interesting > > > philosophical (epistemological) > > > question is whether they have an epistemic right to > > > believe otherwise. > > > > *I think that most of us here are old enough and > > literate enough to see that this is what I was getting > > at. There is however an empirical element to the > > question because I would be interested to hear what > > they think about this. > > > > We have, I believe, reached a fundamental disagreement. Walter's > demand for absolute, nonempirical knowledge is, outside of mathematics > and other forms of the glass bead game, something I outgrew around > 1965, when I looked at what I'd learned doing a B.A. in Philosophy and > decided to go for a Ph.D. in social anthropology. > > I recall a famous joke about three men on a desert island. All they > have to eat is a can of beans. The Chemist calculates how hot their > fire will have to be to make the can explode. The Physicist calculates > how far the beans will fly and places leaves to catch them. The > Economist says, "Assume a can opener." > > The Philosopher imagined by Walter strikes me as being very like that > Economist, with this important difference. The Economist's assumed can > opener reminds me that there may be something else, a rock for > example, that will serve in place of a can opener. The Philosopher's > "Assume a transcendental" points to nothing at all. > > Or, if it points to anything, it points to the human habit of making > assumptions, a pretty solid matter of fact, which leads to the useful > question, "What are they assuming?" The answer depends on empirical > evidence, words and things, and is rarely found by navel-gazing. > > -- > John McCreery > The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN > > US CITIZEN ABROAD? > YOU'RE THE DECIDER! > Register to Vote in '06 Elections > www.VoteFromAbroad.org > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, > digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html > ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html