Conatus: REVISED EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

But, if this is the case, it’s an odd and unsettling idea that our minds cannot be trusted!

And the situation is a bit more subtle than just saying yes or no to whether one, two or all three of our big three can be ticked off as ‘conquered’. For one thing, I think it’s a good thing to be uncertain! I think doubt should be welcomed as the doubt allows for scope and imagination in the way the world is met. I think this can give us a measure of genuine tolerance and compassion in dealing with others. But actually, as explored in this work, the way these matters are dealt with is a story that people seem almost reluctant to admit to! Because it’s not a question of accepting the big three as absolute, or rejecting them as relative or arbitrary. There’s something more subtle going on.

Philosophy only asks certain questions, and — like all intellectual enquiry — it has specific views in mind that it is seeking to demonstrate as true. So it could be asked, what are the current theories that people are trying to demonstrate? A prop for a purely materialist interpretation of the universe is one of the common themes, to tie in with modern science. Also, notions of the world as a simulation of some sort or another. And finally, pragmatism, and meanings delivered from the way theories are constructed and the way words are used. Such matters will be touched on throughout the book.

The book starts off by plunging into those big three in more detail. For truth, I am looking for ‘hypostasis’ — that is, a single truth that transcends all particular truths and itself makes

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