spuckblase comments on Rationality Quotes - July 2009 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: SilasBarta 02 July 2009 06:35PM

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Comment author: RobinHanson 04 July 2009 07:37:26PM 1 point [-]

Apparently Lewis is implicitly contrasting math to some other fields where it would be OK for philosophers to correct the beliefs of others. What are those other fields?

Comment author: spuckblase 05 July 2009 11:01:50AM 2 points [-]

Lewis held that our common-sense-beliefs have greater initial plausibility than every philosophical argument against them, be it in mathematics ("there are numbers") or metaphysics ("there is time"), philosophy of mind ("there are beliefs"), ethics, etc.

Philosophy can help to find a realiser - a best candidate - for the role of numbers, beliefs, etc., but the price for "losing our moorings" (after g.e. moore), i.e., denying common-sense propositions, is almost always too high.

There is at least one case, of course, where Lewis was willing to pay: modal realism.

Comment author: MBlume 04 July 2009 11:03:07PM 2 points [-]

Is he? I actually didn't get that impression.