Many philosophers, such as Isabelle Thomas-Fogiel, claim to have refuted realism. None has succeeded. We must recognise the distinction between truth and knowledge and the distinction between truth and falsity. Philosophical ideas have a way of leaking into the rest of society; we cannot speak truth to power if we have given up on truth argues Timothy Williamson.
The word ‘realism’ is used in very different ways. I will explain one philosophical view which can reasonably be called ‘realist’. It is not exactly the same as the view Isabelle Thomas-Fogiel calls ‘realism’ in her article ‘Is realism the future of philosophy?’, but I think my realism captures the insights in the realism she criticizes. Although many philosophers claim to have refuted this kind of realism, none of them has succeeded. Realism is a sober philosophy; rejecting it brings both the pleasures and the dangers of drunkenness.
Reality comprises everything. Most of reality is independent of us—of you, me, and other thinking creatures. There is a big universe out there; it existed long before any thinking occurred. Of course, we are part of reality too: in that sense, a tiny bit of reality depends on us. But thinking or saying something still does not make it so. People can be infected by Covid-19 however strongly and sincerely they deny it.
Although humans and other animals are fallible, that does not make knowledge impossible. A cat knows that there is a fish in the bowl. Human science has been remarkably successful in gaining knowledge, for example of other galaxies and of Covid-19, though the more we learn the more we realize the extent of our ignorance. There may even be aspects of reality which we cannot know: the limits of what we can know are not the limits of what can be. The universe was not designed to suit our cognitive capacities.
Realism is a sober philosophy; rejecting it brings both the pleasures and the dangers of drunkenness.
Error involves the distinction between truth and falsity. Aristotle explained it very clearly. According to him, when you say that something is the case, you speak truly if it is the case; you speak falsely if it is not the case. For instance, it is true to say or think ‘The patient is infected with Covid-19’ if, and only if, the patient is infected with Covid-19; it is false to say or think ‘She is infected with Covid-19’ if, and only if, the patient is not infected with Covid-19. Fancy talk about correspondence with the facts is at best a way of picturing these elementary logical points, at worst a way of obscuring them under useless metaphysical baggage.
Typically, the truth of what we say is independent of our saying or thinking it, but the nature of truth and falsity does not require such independence. If I shout ‘I am shouting’, I do so truly, because I am shouting. For the same reason, if I shout ‘I am not shouting’, I do so falsely. By contrast, if I say ‘That man is shouting’, the truth or falsity of the statement obviously depends on whether he is shouting, not on whether I am.
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