'Anything given in intuition is, by definition, an
appearance and nothing but an appearance. Of course
if I am a thorough sceptic, I may discredit the
existence of anything else, so that the appearance
will stand in my philosophy as the only reality. But
then I must not enlarge nor interpret nor hypostatise
it: I must keep it as the mere picture it is, and
revert to solipsism of the present moment.'
the thing is there is scepticism and there is scepticism
there is the sceptical method employed by all critical
philosophers
and there is the sceptical stance - a much more radical
view of it all
the idea that we should suspend belief - per se
and this is not to say that such a sceptic cannot act -
or act with beliefs - it is rather to make the point that
any final commitment - epistemological or ontological is
not to be countenanced
it is a position of no final commitment
now it may be objected - is not such a view itself - a final
commitment?
and therefore self-contradictory -
leaving the windows open is not the same as shutting them
your choice here
is a choice of action regarding windows
the equivalence is at the level of choice
not at the level of action -
and
the extraordinary thing is just this -
the view is the same
