About the Metaphysics & Epistemology category

Truth, reality, and knowledge. What exists? How can we know? What is it to be?

We can know from our vision.

As in the physical sense of “vision”, or something more figurative, I wonder?

Welcome, PhilosophistKE! :slight_smile:

Like basically how we know cars exist because we see them

OK. What of that which we can’t see, because it’s out of sight, or because it’s not visible to our human vision, or something else? Does any of that stuff “exist”?

To reuse the old philosophical saying: If a tree falls in a forest, unheard and unobserved, does the tree even exist, in your eyes?

Or do you think that vision is just one way to “know” things, maybe one of many…? :thinking:

If a tree fell into a forest and nobody heard or observed it, the tree would still be observed by the animals in the forest. Like if we don’t observe it it still exists because other beings saw it.

So existence depends on vision, or perhaps on all of our senses? Being observed = proof of existence? Isn’t this a rather unusual stance in a metaphysical topic?

No basically I’m trying to put realism into this. I’m saying that basically if we don’t have a telescope to see a planet from far away that we don’t know anything about, it still exists whether we perceive it or not because if something happens (the planet becomes our moon e.g) then it always existed even before we perceived it.

Like basically how dinosaurs were here but we weren’t here to perceive it. They still existed didn’t they?

You said this:

but now it seems you have changed youir mind, as no human ever saw a dinosaur. Fair enough. :+1:

No u don’t get it I was saying we can know from our vision to him saying “whats exists, how can we know”

I think I do get it. You offered seeing/vision as a demonstration and proof of existence. I commented that this does not seem to be an adequate demonstration (of existence).

For example, the air that I just inhaled cannot be seen. But I’m convinced it exists, for other reasons. I.e. seeing and vision do not prove or confirm the existence of the air we breathe.

So it seems your original question is still open: “what exists; how can we know”?

Still, you could use a technique like Schlieren photography to see the air.

You’re drifting. I only commented to question your assertion that vision is how existence is confirmed. :+1:

But what if we think from a different perspective? Like if ur vision was blurry / if u were blind, u would think the whole world is black/blurry. I don’t think vision is trustworthy of how existence is confirmed.

Exactly. But you said otherwise, and I commented that vision alone was not a useful confirmation of existence. This is what I commented upon:

Well, wouldn’t we be able to know from our concious?

How would we do that? Or how would that happen? :thinking:

How were councious right now, we can use most of our senses to see what exists.

That’s strange… Is that all there is in this category?