It strikes me from this diavlog that you both a) believe in capital-T Truth and mind-independent reality that has to be both understandable and explainable, even if human beings aren’t or won’t ever really understand it or be able to adequately explain it, and b) are resistant to “it is better that” notions of truth, as opposed to “it is true that” notions of truth. (In other words, pragmatics vs. metaphysics.)
My issue with this is that we don’t, actually, have a philosophical/rational/scientific vision of capital-T Truth yet, despite all of our efforts. (Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, etc.) I don’t know anyone who really doubts this. Even the capital-T Truth believers will admit that we don’t know how to achieve an understanding of that truth, they’ll just say that it’s possible because there really is this kind of truth. Isn’t it the case, then that your embracing this kind of objective truth is itself a “true because it’s useful” kind of thinking, not a “true because it’s true” kind of thinking? As long as we don’t have a workable understanding of reality and how it is trouble by mind/body dualism—the consciousness problem—proceeding as if there is a capital-T Truth essentially entails a “this is true because it is useful and we want it to be true” way of embracing that notion. Right?
It strikes me from this diavlog that you both a) believe in capital-T Truth and mind-independent reality that has to be both understandable and explainable, even if human beings aren’t or won’t ever really understand it or be able to adequately explain it, and b) are resistant to “it is better that” notions of truth, as opposed to “it is true that” notions of truth. (In other words, pragmatics vs. metaphysics.)
My issue with this is that we don’t, actually, have a philosophical/rational/scientific vision of capital-T Truth yet, despite all of our efforts. (Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, etc.) I don’t know anyone who really doubts this. Even the capital-T Truth believers will admit that we don’t know how to achieve an understanding of that truth, they’ll just say that it’s possible because there really is this kind of truth. Isn’t it the case, then that your embracing this kind of objective truth is itself a “true because it’s useful” kind of thinking, not a “true because it’s true” kind of thinking? As long as we don’t have a workable understanding of reality and how it is trouble by mind/body dualism—the consciousness problem—proceeding as if there is a capital-T Truth essentially entails a “this is true because it is useful and we want it to be true” way of embracing that notion. Right?