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Laura Cyckowski's picture

Reality, Truth, & materialism

The "thing" that I get tripped up about when thinking about realism/constructivism, Truth, and the brain is materialism. I can't get past the point that in order for the story suggested in last Monday's class, or for any story, aside from idealism (=everything a dream) that there HAS to be SOMETHING "out there", outside of us/our brains. Ontologically, I don't see any alternative to materialsm other than idealism, the latter which would not allow for any type of "foundation" for inquiry even only if a tentative one. Epistemologically, I don't think that the material world can be ever be wholly described, or that there is one "true" description of it. Furthermore, I don't think that trying to describe it objectively is a fruitful endeavor since, thinking under the paradigm from Monday night, everything is inherently subjective to at least some degree.

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