In
a previous post on certainty, I discussed Peter Unger's challenge that
certainty is dogmatic. I offered a view that allows me to capture both
certainty and open-mindedness. But here's a point in Unger's favor:
You
might argue that to assert something as being certainly true, or to
assert that something certainly exists, you must also therefore assert
that your analysis of what it means for something to be true is correct,
or that your analysis of what it means for something to exist is
correct. But you probably don't have, and shouldn't have, this further
certainty, given the widespread disagreement among professionals over what it means for something to be true or to exist.
My
solution before applies here too: by saying "I can't imagine that being
false" or "I can't imagine that not existing", I am open to the
possibility that it's either possible or impossible that someone could successfully imagine the truth or existence of the thing in question. If
it turns out that someone can imagine the truth or existence of
the thing in question, then one explanation for why they can imagine
this when I can't is exactly because they have the right analysis of truth
or existence when I don't.
But this works both ways: it may be
impossible for anyone to successfully imagine the truth or existence of
the thing question, and part of the explanation for this could be
because the correct analysis of truth or existence entails the truth or
existence of the thing in question.
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