The realist comeback Abraham Lincoln is suppos
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Posted On: 08/13/2016 4:18:11 PM
Re: getmoreshares #2884
The realist comeback
Abraham Lincoln is supposed to have once asked one of his aides:
"If you count its tail as a leg, how many legs does a donkey have?"
"Five," replied the aide.
"No," said Lincoln. "Simply calling the tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
[This well-known anecdote illustrates what all realists regard as the basic flaw in any form of idealism, which, they would say, includes fancy modern versions of anti-realism. We can say and think what we please; but hard, objective reality imposes severe constraints on what we can plausibly claim.]
Abraham Lincoln is supposed to have once asked one of his aides:
"If you count its tail as a leg, how many legs does a donkey have?"
"Five," replied the aide.
"No," said Lincoln. "Simply calling the tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
[This well-known anecdote illustrates what all realists regard as the basic flaw in any form of idealism, which, they would say, includes fancy modern versions of anti-realism. We can say and think what we please; but hard, objective reality imposes severe constraints on what we can plausibly claim.]
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