Thomas Reid & Naive Realism

[lilwilly]

Well, I remember last night when going to sleep that this essay was due this morning. So I woke up nice and early and threw it together. Not too great, but whatever.

Comments

[nanikore]

"Blue is blue" sure sounds like "truth is what they are" and "A=A" to me!

[ex_cubetoo915]

"Blue is blue" could be "A=A". I don't see how the middle statement fits in with the other three.

[nanikore]

The statement can just be parred down to "truth is truth". Then again, "truth" really begs clarification.

[lilwilly]

Umm... how does this thread have anything to do with my essay?

[ex_cubetoo915]

That's what I was going to say outright, and I was hoping he would tie the the two together.

[nanikore]

Doesn't naive realism come down to statments such as "blue is blue", as in "I see it as blue, so it's blue"?

[sophonax]

Those two statements are pretty far removed from each other; while the first is a simple statement of identity, the second borders on solipsism, which is compatible with naive realism, but just barely.

[nanikore]

I didn't meant those statements to be taken in a literal context. The attitudes of those statments are pretty much that of observation matching reality. For the second statement I could have had "he sees it as blue..." or "she sees it as blue..." or "we see it as blue..." as alternative examples.