Existence is the basis of reality. Nothing can be understood without the presence of existence. It really is the simplest concept which cannot be explained otherwise. No communication does not involve existence.
One does not prove the self evident. The existence of the world is proof that it is real. If one cannot accept that self evident fact, no argument will suffice. On the other hand the solipsist can offer no proof that his position is correct. If one does not accept the existence of the world one cannot argue, period.
Yes I know.
This is contradictory. You cannot say that perhaps the Church is an external reality and then say that it is an " external entity. "
If you believe that, then you must also believe that the Church is really existing reality, composed of really existing people. It seems that you solipsism is selective. And with no justification. You cannot arbitrarily select as real those things you want to be real and exclude those that you don’t want to be real. That is what I meant when I said a true solipsist cannot function in the world. No one can function in an illusion.
A violation of the principle of contradiction. A thing either is or is not, it cannot be both at the same time in the same circumstance.
Another violation of the principle of contradiction.
I’m actually hoping you are right.
Dear Ben:
If by faith you mean certain spiritual strength that impulses you to pursue great endeavors, YES! Faith is not a small thing. It is all we need.
I would say you are heading in the right direction in the face of (any) uncertainties. The “faithfulness” is to an “object” in that “illusion” (which I will say is not an illusion). And it is also faithfulness to a person in that “illusion”, namely Jesus, who is expecting you (the faithful) to be ready and awaiting his return. So it is a kind of “commitment” to the “illusion” as being not an illusion. I will say that I am committed to it, and plan all my doings in such a way that he is not disappointed in his return, but happy to see me and others.
It is self evident that we are experiencing something. It is not self evident that what we are experiencing has an external object. However, we have no reason to doubt the existence of an external object and therefore one can reasonably hold that it does exist on that basis.
Of course there are things that demand proof, but not the existence of the things or our every day existence. There is no doubt that the planets, suns, galaxies, etc. exist. It is the precise nature of these bodies which must be demonstrated. The solipsist is wrong because he doubts the objective existence of all that exists outside the mind.
And you are certain about this?
Yes.And you are certain about this?
I know that you’re a big fan of Aquinas, and so I’m curious about something that Aquinas asserts in his Five Ways. Specifically I’m curious about his Fourth Way, the proof of God from the gradation of things. This proof seems fairly simple and straight forward, that which is maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus. Thus that which is hot draws its being from that which is hottest, that which is noble from that which is noblest, and so forth.
There is no point in trying to explain something to a person who things everything outside the mind is an illusion.
Only those things which are experiences in and of themselves are certain. An external world is uncertain because it cannot be directly perceived; any perception which is assumed to present an external world lies within one’s internal awareness.
Hi Blase:
Interesting, isn’t it? Your mind goes to all kinds of effort to gather all kinds of sensitive data from your sensitive powers (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell), and then goes to all kinds of effort to analyze these sensed things with the internal sensitive powers (memory, images). It is like your mind is trying to do something contrary to your philosophy, as if your mental activities day in and day out believe in something you do not believe in: that the external is real and that you must know it and know it completely. Your body strains to see a beautiful sunset while your philosophy doubts them. Your eyes do not doubt, but you do. Oh, and out there is something, someone, real named Jesus, called the Church, called the Body and the Blood. By the way, it is the intellect and will that benefit from the senses, and they drive the insatiable appetites of the senses to get the understanding of and union with the external “other”. The soul does not want uncertainty but requires understanding of everything (and it will have it, for it was created to have it as its fulfillment).