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Originally Posted by DChristopher  I don't believe in this sort of thing. I'm a skeptic, and I don't believe in any kind of "certain" knowledge. |
I'm sorry to hear that, but you probably don't believe that either.
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Originally Posted by DChristopher I also don't believe in such a thing as an axiom that I "can't deny without using it in my denial." |
I don't believe that you really don't believe that. But then you likely don't believe that I don't believe that you don't believe it.
Rampant skepticism gives me a headache.
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Originally Posted by DChristopher Unless by axiom you mean a paradox, like, "this sentence is false"...to deny that I have to affirm it. |
No.
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Originally Posted by DChristopher However, I *like* the wikipedia definition of axiom better. As I said, I don't believe there is such a thing as a "certain" or "irrefutable" starting point. I think starting points can't be proven, only assumed...in that case, they can be arbitrary.
I'm looking for plausible ones (plausible to me), not arbitrary ones. Or maybe I'm looking for aesthetically pleasing ones? At any rate, I'm not looking for axioms which satisfy some inarguability criterion, because I don't think it's possible. |
To a skeptic who does not believe in certain knowledge, all knowledge must necessarily be arbitrary. Thus is the self-refuting nature of skepticism.