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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Certainty is only achievable through the mind reflecting on the content of its own thoughts, not through the opinions of others.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Reid and the Common Sense tradition argue that certain foundational beliefs—such as the reliability of memory and perception—are warranted through social trust, not introspection.
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    • 2.Testimony-based knowledge, as Coady demonstrates, is epistemically primitive: most of what individuals count as certain they have never personally verified through private reflection.
      ?

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    • 3.Therefore, introspective certainty is parasitic on interpersonal epistemic practices rather than independent of them.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Wittgenstein's rule-following paradox shows that private mental reflection alone cannot fix the meaning of concepts required for any certain judgment.
      ?

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    • 2.If meaning is constituted through shared linguistic practices, then certainty presupposes the testimony and norms of a community, not solitary cognition.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.The opinions of others, however authoritative, cannot produce the kind of certainty that reason alone can reach.
      ?

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    • 2.Only a mind (cogito) reflecting on the content of its own thoughts can achieve genuine certainty.
      ?

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