external world skepticism

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Philosophy

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Oct 30, 2023

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Aylin Estrada PHI-103 October 12, 2019 Dr. Osmundsen Reflection on External World Skepticism External world skepticism is defined as having knowledge of the external world through the senses, perception, thoughts, and ideas. In other words, the only evidence of the external world is that of which is directly available to the mind, such as its own contents, such as thoughts, perceptions and desires (Mattey, 2015). This perspective on knowledge and if we can ever have true knowledge outside of our own indirect perception and thoughts poses the arbitrary question as to whether the external world really exists outside our own mind. Examples of such skepticism can be seen in examples such as Hilary Putnam’s “brain in a vat” thought experiment and Descartes evil demon hypothesis, both of which induce the theoretical question of how do we really know that we know. The question previously stated above could simply be answered through Descartes’s Third Meditation, which states that he is sure that the external world exists because he exists as a thinking thing. Descartes goes on to explain that although his senses could fool him and he could become convinced that there was no earth, sky, mind, or bodies, this “deceiver” could never convince him that he does not exist as long as he thinks that he is something (Stewart, Blocker, & Petrik, 2013). Descartes provides only a couple examples of arguments for external world skepticism. John Locke offers the argument that skepticism is self-undermining in regards to the fact that the skeptics goal is to challenge whether we have the knowledge we claim to have, but in raising these doubts the skeptic undermines their ability to talk about knowledge at all. Locke 1

instead offers an argument for external world skepticism by arguing that knowledge of the external world is sensitive knowledge of real existence. In other words, sensory experiences help us identify and know that some objects exists distinct from our minds and affects our mind by producing certain ideas in it (Priselac, 2002). He continues his argument by stating that this knowledge is not the result of reflecting on ideas already in our mind or of deductive reasoning (Priselac, 2002). One possible response to external world skepticism stems from John Locke’s analysis for the origins of knowledge in the sense that Locke rejected scholastic disputation and instead preferred to emphasize more on common sense. In regards to this, it is possible to know the world through safe perception as it provides the most parsimonious explanation as to how we can come to conclude that we are not a handless brain in a vat, because we can perceive, experience, and produce thoughts of our own that would be otherwise different if placed there by some other unknown stimulation. 2

References Mattey, G. J. (2015). Contemporary epistemology VI the validation project. Retrieved from http://hume.ucdavis.edu/mattey/phi102/contemp6.html. Priselac, M. (2002). Locke: Knowledge of the external world. Retrieved from https://www.iep.utm.edu/locke-kn/#SH3b. Stewart, D., Blocker, H. G., & Petrik, J. (2013). Fundamentals of philosophy (8th ed.).Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. URL: http://gcumedia.com/digital- resources/pearson/2012/fundamentals-of-philosophy_ebook_8e.php 3

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