From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!ists!torn.onet.on.ca!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!tdat!swf Tue Jun  9 10:07:05 EDT 1992
Article 6090 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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>From: swf@teradata.com (Stanley Friesen)
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: The Systems Reply I
Message-ID: <465@tdat.teradata.COM>
Date: 4 Jun 92 20:06:51 GMT
References: <6687@skye.ed.ac.uk> <6854@pkmab.se> <26@tdatirv.UUCP> <1992May23.152538.11711@psych.toronto.edu>
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In article <1992May23.152538.11711@psych.toronto.edu> christo@psych.toronto.edu (Christopher Green) writes:
|In article <26@tdatirv.UUCP> sarima@tdatirv.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) writes:
|>
|>All I am asking is that Searle put his arguments on a scientific, rather
|>than a philosophical, basis.
|>
|When will scientists, and those who call themselves scientists, realize that
|these are not opposed. Science is simply the applied side of a philosophy
|called empiricism. Empiricism does some things well, and some things very
|poorly. Those who would say that if it's not empirical, it's not worth
|talking about just don't know what they're talking about.

I am *not* saying that only empirical concepts are worthwhile.

What I *am* saying is that the empirical apporach is the only *practical*
means of resolving fundamental philosophical *disputes* (unless the
disagreement is purely one of definitions, in which case agreeing on
a set of definitions will resolve it).

Now, if essentially all rational people agreed with Searle's premises,
there would be no need to resort to empirical resolution, since there
would be effectively no disagreement to resolve!  *But*, *given* the
disagreement about the validity of his premises, how *else* do you propose
to convince a skeptic that his premises are right?  Just repeating his
arguments just elicits a repeat of 'I do not see it'.
-- 
sarima@teradata.com			(formerly tdatirv!sarima)
  or
Stanley.Friesen@ElSegundoCA.ncr.com


