-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Jon Johanning
As you know, "data" means "givens" in Latin. So who or what gives them? Could it be the "real world"?
How do you distinguish data that are veridical perceptions from hallucinations or other perceptual mistakes? Why do models that work, work and models that don't, don't?
Looks as though some "metaphysical" questions are left over...
(It sounds to me as though you are fairly close to Hume, as many scientists are even today. But there are problems with Hume's account of science ...)
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http://www.ditext.com/sellars/epm.html
EMPIRICISM AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND by Wilfrid Sellars
Note: This paper was first presented as the University of London Special Lectures on Philosophy for 1955-56, delivered on March 1, 8, and 15, 1956, under the title "The Myth of the Given: Three Lectures on Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind."