{"id":7975,"date":"2014-05-06T05:46:04","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T05:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2014\/05\/06\/a-question-for-benson-mates\/"},"modified":"2014-05-06T05:46:04","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T05:46:04","slug":"a-question-for-benson-mates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2014\/05\/06\/a-question-for-benson-mates\/","title":{"rendered":"A Question for Benson Mates"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Benson Mates<\/a> (1919-2009), all the major problems of philosophy are "insoluble though intelligible." (Skeptical Essays<\/em>, U. of Chicago Press, 1981, p. 13)  If true, this would explain why the problems of philosophy have not been solved.  But "the rational minds among us are not inclined to give up the struggle, while the rest become religious mystics or philosophical obscurantists . . . ." (p. x)<\/span><\/p>\n

But why continue to struggle with the problems of philosophy?  To better appreciate the insolubility thesis?  Apparently, Mates thinks that while the problems can't be solved or dissolved, one ought to keep trying to solve them anyway.  But how rational is this?  I should think that a "rational mind" should not attempt to do what he has already convinced himself cannot be done. Is it not more rational to seek a path to truth beyond philosophy?<\/span><\/p>\n

How rational is it to place one's sole faith in reason when one has, by one's own lights<\/em>, seen the infirmity of reason?<\/span><\/p>\n

If a certain weight needs lifting, a weight beyond my ability to lift, and known to be such, does it make sense to struggle with it?  Or is it more rational to seek assistance?  By rejecting out of  hand the assistance of religion and mysticism –  which he foolishly conflates — Mates shows that his commitment to reason is irrational, as irrational as my pride-driven conceit that I am master of any difficulty that I should encounter.<\/span><\/p>\n

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According to Benson Mates (1919-2009), all the major problems of philosophy are "insoluble though intelligible." (Skeptical Essays, U. of Chicago Press, 1981, p. 13)  If true, this would explain why the problems of philosophy have not been solved.  But "the rational minds among us are not inclined to give up the struggle, while the rest … Continue reading “A Question for Benson Mates”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-metaphilosophy","category-reason-and-rationality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}