Constant comments on Philosophy: A Diseased Discipline - Less Wrong

88 Post author: lukeprog 28 March 2011 07:31PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 29 March 2011 10:46:09PM *  1 point [-]

Granted, our concepts are often unclear.The Socratic dialogs demonstrate that, when pressed, we have trouble explaining our concepts. But that doesn't mean that we don't know what things are well enough to use the concepts. People managed to communicate and survive and thrive, probably often using some of the very concepts that Socrates was able to shatter with probing questions. For example, a child's concepts of "up" and "down" unravel slightly when the child learns that the planet is a sphere, but that doesn't mean that, for everyday use, the concepts aren't just fine.