Trapped...

Estudia: Hi Phi, I have someone I want you to meet. Phi, this is my friend Menace. Menace, this is Philo, my mentor and teacher and the person I told you about who introduced me to the three fundamental axioms of philosophy.

Philo: Pleased to meet you Menace.

Menace: Same here. Look, Estudia explained to me what you have taught her. I don’t see what is so self-evident about these axioms. I disagree. People don’t all see things like you explained. Why can’t I start with different axioms? How can you be sure your axioms are right? My goodness, I think lots of philosophers have concluded that we can’t ever be sure we are right. We can’t even be sure we exist. Your claims are crazy.

Estudia: I told you he had some pretty strong opinions, Phi.

Philo: Yes, I see that. He sure does. Well, Menace, you are objecting to the self-evident aspect of these axioms and that isn’t valid.

Menace: What’da ya mean? Not valid.

Philo: Well, first of all there isn’t any such thing as disagreement. People agree about everything, don’t you agree?

Menace: Are you nuts? That’s crazy; of course people disagree all the time. They disagree about all kinds of things like about your stupid axioms.

Philo: But how can they really? There isn’t anything to disagree about is there? Nothing exists so there is nothing to disagree about.

Menace: That’s even stupider than the axioms. All kinds of things exist. There are lots of things to disagree about. You know that as well as I do.

Philo: So you admit that existence exists I’d say. There has to be things to disagree about before you can even think about disagreeing about them. That’s the existence axiom. But still how can we disagree. We aren’t really conscious beings are we. We can’t hold ideas like disagreement really can we?

Menace: Hey, I’m conscious of what we are saying. I hold ideas and you do to. Of course we are conscious or how could we even be talking about your axioms?

Philo: Well, then it sounds like you accept the consciousness axiom too. Even so I don’t think your disagreement with my ideas is a problem. Why do you think I am mistaken? Perhaps we are both right about this?

Menace: That’s crazy talk again. That’s really not possible. If you have one idea and I have a different one, then we both can’t be right. You can’t have your cake and eat it too buddy. Look things are what they are. A is A and contradictions don’t exist in reality.

Philo: You’re right.

Estudia: Menace, what about your ideas about devils or fairies you told me about. Tell him about those.

Menace: Yea, your axioms leave out little details like the possibility of ghosts or gods you know.

Philo: I told Estudia, you can’t prove that you exist. And I’ll tell you, you can’t prove that you’re conscious. But you just validated those ideas for yourself. Existence, consciousness and identity are part of every statement and every concept. That includes devils, ghost and gods. You can’t escape or deny the axioms because in doing so you have to reaffirm them. That’s why the axioms are at the base of all knowledge. That’s why they are axioms.

Menace: Yea, but that’s because you pick your axioms so that I have to accept them to be consistent. That doesn’t make them true and I can see that people, and I’m one of them, don’t want to accept your axioms. Why should I? Why can’t I believe that reality is a lot more complicated than you make out and I nor anyone else is smart enough to really know the truth? Maybe we do have to contradict ourselves in order to truly know what to believe. Maybe we aren’t intelligent enough to know what God knows.

Philo: Menace, it was nice meeting you because you are a friend of Estudia’s, but I really don’t have anything else to say to you. You are free to accept your contradictions and you are free to evade the axioms. Good luck to you. Estudia, come see me again, but please not with Menace. I’ll talk with you later.

Estudia: But Phi, you haven’t convinced Menace of anything.

Philo: I showed you that identity is inescapable, but you had to first accept that a thing is what it is, or as we said, A is A. I showed you that existence is inescapable, but you had to accept and refer to existence first. I showed you that consciousness is inescapable, but you had to know you had a consciousness and use it. Thus we showed that the three axioms were the foundation of all knowledge.

Estudia: True, but you didn’t convince Menace.
Menace: Not in the least.

Philo: Neither I nor anyone can convince another person that the axioms are all knowledge until that person accepts the axioms himself. If he wants to look at existence and say he perceives something other than what his senses reveal, I can’t do anything. I can’t argue with him or even discuss the issue. He has abandoned reason and the self-evident; so please wish him well and come back when you are ready to continue our discussion.

Estudia: Ok, Phi. I’m sorry. I see that Menace is not going to be a friend for long and I was mistaken about him. He seemed like a nice person.

Philo: Oh, I’m not saying he isn’t nice. Lots of really nice people accept some really irrational ideas and live their lives never caring or never moving past that. They are successful to the extent that they are rational in their careers and their dealings with others. Someday I’ll show you how mistaken ideas can come back to bite you when you least expect it. But good luck to Menace. I just don’t have anything to discuss with him.