everyday journal, 5/4/05

[novapsyche]

9:19 p.m.

To know and to believe are two different things.

I live this life, knowing that it is a fiction.* But I am in this life nonetheless. I believe all of the things around me. I believe I exist. Do I know I exist? I don't know. But I believe I do, because my sense organs tell me I do! Because I have a cognitive process, because I can interpret the world. Because I have a consciousness. (So does consciousness believe itself into being?)



* I'm referencing Wallace Stevens' quote: "The final belief is to believe in a fiction, which you know to be a fiction, there being nothing else. The exquisite truth is to know that it is a fiction and that you believe in it willingly." from Adagia.

Comments

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

I know that I exist. I believe the narrative I tell myself about this life.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

How do you know?

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Saying you "don't know" you exist is just semantic games. I know I exist or there wouldn't be any 'me' to be thinking so. In my philosophy classes, we often tested different ways of solving philosophical dilemmas by testing it against our intuition. Now, there are many scientifically-proven facts and mathematical formulas that go against our intuitions. But, in general, I think the "intuition/bullshit" test is a good one for philosophical arguments. It just seems counterintuitive and silly to say that I don't know I exist.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm digging at epistemology (which I only kind of understand). What does it mean to know? To know that one exists should be one of the most fundamental pieces of knowledge a person has. How does one come by it? And how can one be sure? How does one conduct a test?

Basically, even the most fundamental, experiential knowledge comes from faith. It cannot follow from proof.