> Johnson didn't refute anything. He had the impression
> of a foot hitting a stone.
Well, of course there's no such thing as a "refutation" in philosophy (the good Doctor J. wasn't aware of that, I guess), if you mean a conclusive, knock-down argument. But if you are a pragmatist, as I often am when the mood strikes me, the point is that, regardless of your metaphysical commitments, kicking a stone will result in a painful sensation in the foot, and if you want to avoid such sensations, you will refrain from such actions. I think the Doctor was a being pragmatist avant le lettre (he was a century too early for that school).
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ When I was a little boy, I had but a little wit, 'Tis a long time ago, and I have no more yet; Nor ever ever shall, until that I die, For the longer I live the more fool am I. -- Wit and Mirth, an Antidote against Melancholy (1684)