Bertie’s Teapot.
February 4th, 2007, search relatedRelated posts :: Bertie’s Teapot. :: Bertie’s Teapot. :: :: The Uses of ‘Is’ and Exist.
If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot
revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to
disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small
to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on
to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable
presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to
be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were
affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled
into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence
would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions
of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier
time. It is customary to suppose that, if a belief is widespread, there must
be something reasonable about it.
Bertrand Russell.
regards,
Jud Evans.
Personal Website: http://evans-experientialism.freewebspac…
