[MD] Realism and anti-realism

[david buchanan]

Matt said to Steve:
... I can't figure, for example, if a person really does have Cartesian Anxiety, or they're just saying a thing 'cuz it seems like the thing to say.


dmb says:

For anyone who might be wondering about the meaning of "Cartesian Anxiety". (What, mom and dad didn't tell you!?!) Here's the entire Wiki article:

Cartesian anxiety refers to the notion that, ever since René Descartes promulgated his highly influential form of body-mind dualism, Western civilization has suffered from a longing for ontological certainty, or feeling that scientific methods, and especially the study of the world as a thing separate from ourselves, should be able to lead us to a firm and unchanging knowledge of ourselves and the world around us. The term is named after Descartes because of his well-known emphasis on "mind" as different from "body", "self" as different from "other".Richard J. Bernstein coined the term in his 1983 book Beyond Objectivism and Relativism: Science, Hermeneutics, and Praxis.

Interesting post, Matt. 

Later,