Well...here's my $0.02.
Sam writes:
> This kind of global scepticism asks for a kind of certainty that is
> unnecessary for constructing theories that predict and explain the
> world. As Descartes asked in his 1st meditation "How do you know
> that we all aren't just brains in a vat being controlled by an evil
> demon?"
But that wasn't just a rhetorical question for Descartes: it was a
possible objection to the existence of the self that he had to deal
with -- and he did, noting that even if the self's thoughts were
engendered by something exterior, that self still had to exist.
> > Miles "dammit I read too much Nietzsche as an undergraduate"
> >Jackson
>
> Nietzsche himself was a realist and believed in objective truth. see
> *Nietzsche on Truth and Philosphy* by Maudmarie Clark.
Or _Twilight of the Idols_, where he sez it hisself.
----------
Ken writes:
> Descartes assumes an imaginary standpoint outside of the you and the
> we - but he places the burden of proof on the Other (the you) - a
> perspective that "sees" the demon and the brains. In other words,
> the I relies on an Other to determine 'our' reality.
See above -- the perspective beyond the demon and the brains is
besides the point. It may or may not exist, but in either case, the
self must exist.
> To drawn this into capitalism - how do you know that we aren't
> just workers in a huge factory system. Well, we are. I know
> this because I'm able to take a self-reflective postion outside
> of myself that sees you and me in this factory. But this
> position doesn't exist! I am in the factory. You are in the
> factory. But how do we know this? We imagine it. We create
> a vantage point outside of ourselves and look in through the
> windows. And having this vantage point is precisely what
> permits the critique of ideology - which really means - the
> critique of ideology is a perspective issuing straight from the
> Other.
But that "imaginary," "exterior," "Other" position is only a
transitory phase (maybe aspect is a better word) of one's awareness
and self-awareness -- if what one posits in that phase/aspect is
consistent with other phases/aspects of self and self-awareness, then
it becomes reasonable to relax one's doubts about the reality of the
"imaginary-ness," "Other-ness" of that position outside the factory.
In this case, I'd say the ideology critique has to be dialectical, in
the sense that it must take into account both the certain, interior
perspective and the hypothetical, exterior perspective.
I'll stop now before I put my foot too far down my throat.
--
Curtiss