One has to linger here because there is no going back to that reality blissfully if one sees the real force of this idea - no reality is free of doubt, absolutely nothing, there is nowhere one can hide from this truth. One can accept reality but one has to accept the fundamental assumption first and foremost.
Nobody is hiding from it. That isn’t what I meant. That wasn’t the meaning of that paragraph. I concede that nothing is absolute. But so what? Reality is still here whether you like it or not, whether you think its real or not. The same laws apply to you as they do to me. The 99% reality doesn’t go away if you close your eyes and pray for that 1% uncertainty to become the reality.
Chuang tzu has a famous story where he wakes up from a dream where he thought he was a butterfly and asks the most important question: am I a butterfly dreaming now or a man dreaming then? What possible answer to life can satisfy one here that doesn't avoid that question? Intellectual masturbation it may well seem like but it is the only place to start if one seeks true knowledge and real understanding, to skip this part and move on is to always have a flawed view of reality.
No it isn’t. The only way to function as a person in nearly all avenues of life and experience is to skip this part and move on. We all start with nothing. Then we progress. Uncertainty isn't a place I feel the need to dwell, however.
Every knowledge base is based on 0% certainty. Its the default position of everything. We all start there. Even newborn children start there, and not just philosophers start there.
It is this very problem of fundamental existence that bestows the universe with unending mystery. The phenomena of reality may or may not be a true reflection of what really is, but everyone creates meaning for the world - all that is asked that it be accepted for the subjective belief that it is.
Is it a coincidence that we all largely have the same conclusions about a number of things, when presented with them in the same set of circumstances? Is it a coincidence that the human body has evolved with this particular version of reality integrated in its shape, base wants and needs, and sensory interaction, amongst other things?
I cannot see how you can call beauty subjective and intangible on one hand and on the other hand you say it has something to do with the truth. That which is merely subjective and intangible has no proof of being the truth. Being subjective means that it is your own creation of what reality is, and your creation is not safe from doubt.
Beauty is a matter of taste and preference, and is largely superficial. It has so many variables. That’s why its subjective. Beautiful works of art can still have underlying meaning, however, and they can sometimes have universal meaning. And we might healthily disagree that something is beautiful. It is our taste and preference that set us apart from each other, or sometimes even bring us together. We could be fundamentally opposed on the aesthetic value of something, while still coming to the same conclusion about its underlying meaning or the truth expressed. This ‘truth’ would be drawn from the same body of working experience that we all have in common.
That is fine, you may continue on your quest of creating art and appreciate the purpose that it gives you, but let's not say that those who are troubled by this doubt have empty worries.
I didn’t say that. I don’t believe you’re even remotely troubled by this doubt, beyond mere lip service. You are as equally at ‘fault’ as the next person for using this universal ‘working truth’ when its convenient for you. It just depends if you see it as a fault in the first place. I don’t. Do you?
If your lover asks “Do you love me?” would you reply “Probably”? Or would you say “Absolutely”?
Topic: Atheism is NOT a Belief