Posted by Q (198.64.206.92) on January 23, 2000 at 00:34:58:
In Reply to: Theory #0 - Ontological Duality posted by Q on January 22, 2000 at 23:52:20:
I have been accused of proposing a metaphysical argument earlier in the week, so I conducted some independent research. I now have these three "first basic questions" about the CH-condition --
(1) Is CH a Physical or Mental Condition, or both?
(2) Would CH exist without our awareness of it? (As in a virus)
(3) Could CH exist without its host? (As in a heart attack)
The blue link leads to a discussion of perhaps rather esoteric matters dealing with philosophy. If you do dive into it, it may be worth your while. I read it with a mindset towards the CH condition and found many interesting proposals.
For example, "The Cartesian problem of knowledge, however, is not so easily dismissed if one is concerned to avoid reductionism. Indeed it plays upon the very fundamental ontology of the human condition to which the theory of ontological undecidability is addressed: As soon as we distinguish ourselves and the phenomena of our perception from the independent things that we perceive, we are free to doubt that the character or even the existence of those things is as we picture it. The occurrence of dreams and hallucinations must persuade us that at least sometimes there is nothing corresponding to our representations, and it is not at all clear how we can presume to know a priori by what criteria we should judge where hallucination leaves off and veridical perception begins. Furthermore, when we consider that we expect external objects to cause our perceptions, or at least our sensations, by the physical affection of our senses, then we have a further basis for doubt in that a cause is never more than sufficient to its effects: if different causes can produce the same effect, then it is perfectly conceivable that perception is caused, not by the objects in question, but by the direct agency of God, by mental illness, by extraterrestrials, or, as Descartes might have it, by the Deceiving Demon."
Feel familiar?