From: "Tobin Nellhaus" <nellhaus-AT-gis.net>
Subject: BHA: Re: Theology and critical realist praxis
Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 08:15:15 -0400


Mervyn wrote:

> If this sounds too shirty, please forgive - I have just come from
> wrestling with the the six classes of being, ranging from absolute being
> to demi-real being and co-dependent being, and the modalities within
> each, so that absolute being e.g. 'may be constituted by a potentially
> infinite series of potentially rankable hierarchies of levels of
> limitlessness, unboundedness, omnipotence (or infinity!)' and much more.
> Of course it may be, and it may be too that an infinity of angels can
> sit on the point of a pin, along with a zillion devils. It's purely
> speculative and completely divorced from anything that might remotely
> resemble empirical control.

I just want to add, I think this is the knifepoint of the current debate on
empirical evidence.  If we admit such things as "non-empirical evidence," I
don't see how we can shut the door to *any* sort of utter speculation, even
the most perverse, that calls itself critical realism.

Clearly Doug recognizes the importance of empirical evidence, at any rate.
And there are great differences between evidence and causes (the latter may
be non-empirical), and between evidence and justifications (the latter is a
much broader category of reasons).  But some sort of empirical grounds are
vital to anything that claims to be knowledge about the truth of things.

---
Tobin Nellhaus
nellhaus-AT-mail.com
"Faith requires us to be materialists without flinching": C.S. Peirce




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