Feed on
Posts
Comments

It required me to revisit the debates (actually, did they ever really have debates, or do we just debate their ideas today?) between the French Rationalist thinkers with the Scottish Evolutionary thinkers. The Scottish thinkers understood the value of tradition and urged us to be humble when it came to the following of rules, most of which evolved from processes which we could not ourselves comprehend. That we cannot explain WHY a particular rule exists, or why a particular moral code exists does not mean we ought not use our reason to achieve the ends dictated by such moral codes. This is most definitely not what the rationalist thinkers believed. The most extreme version is perhaps best summarized by the idea from Descartes which “rejects as absolutely false all opinions in regard to which I could suppose the least ground for doubt.”

You see, in the Cartesian world, there simply is no room for doubt – so one has to promote the idea of 100% scientific consensus in order for their actions to have any validity. If those in the “consensus” community would spend some time reading Ferguson or Hume or Smith they would perhaps understand that they would still have a very persuasive argument to make without having to be so doctrinaire.

14 Responses to “I Finally Understand the Climate Consensus”

  1. Dan says:

    Scottish “Evolutionary”? You must mean Enlightenment.

    I’m not sure that you represent Descartes’ views very well. That particular phrase goes with his thought experiment that asked you to doubt all that could be doubted. But he moves away from that pretty quickly, and by the end of the Meditations concludes that we can rely on some types of inference, building up our beliefs from first principles using clear and distinct observations backed by divine guarantee in the form of innate ideas. But yes, his methods are pretty impractical even if that approach is possible.

  2. Rod says:

    Geeze, I thought we were all Stalinists now.

  3. Rod says:

    There is a nig difference between Reason and justification.

  4. 보증업체 says:

    576277 986528A good clear cut answer and a terrific concept. But how do I post any work on this internet site is yet another question. The Foureyed Poet. 939978

  5. 193377 108265Somebody necessarily aid to make seriously articles I might state. That could be the really very first time I frequented your internet page and to this point? I surprised with the research you made to make this actual put up amazing. Amazing task! 488714

  6. best cams says:

    595267 645947Glad to be one of many visitants on this awing internet internet site : D. 95531

  7. Nonameauto says:

    101856 855989Ive writers block that comes and goes and I want to uncover a method to get rid of my writers block. It can occasionally be so bad I can barley make sentences. Any tips? 864182

  8. 776376 318904I like the way you conduct your posts. Have a nice Thursday! 154222

  9. luckyet says:

    960566 517745I dont leave plenty of comments on lots of blogs each week but i felt i had to here. A hard-hitting post. 216909

  10. 286818 627215Howdy! I just want to give an enormous thumbs up for the excellent details you might have here on this post. I will likely be coming back to your weblog for far more soon. 94449

  11. push888 says:

    207574 376506You ought to be really astute at research and writing. This shows up inside your original and distinctive content. I agree along with your primary points on this topic. This content need to be seen by more readers. 955775

  12. 143977 81853Having read this I thought it was quite informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this article together. I once again uncover myself spending method to much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it! 55831

  13. FruitCash says:

    659022 494228Come across back yard garden unusual periods of ones Are generally Weight reduction and every one 1 could be important. One way state could possibly be substantial squandering by means of the diet. lose weight 147831

  14. 864124 630707I see something genuinely special in this website . 685128

Leave a Reply