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The_Savior_from_Spiritual_Error_and_50_Principles, page : 43
1) The Approach of Sophists and Rejecting Knowledge
Thereupon I investigated the various kinds of knowledge I had, and found
myself destitute of all knowledge with this characteristic of infallibility, except
in the case of sensible knowledge [the five senses] and the obvious. So I
said, “Now that despair has come over me, there is no point in addressing
any problems except on the basis of what is self-evident, namely the sensible
knowledge and the obvious. So I must perfect this first in order that I become
certain regarding sensible knowledge, same kind as my previous trust in the
beliefs I had merely taken over from others and as the trust most men have in
the results of thinking? Or is it a justified trust that is in no danger of being
betrayed or destroyed‟?
I therefore proceeded with extreme seriousness to reflect on sensible
knowledge and the obvious, to see whether I could make myself doubt them.
The outcome of this extended effort to induce doubt was that I could no longer
trust sensible knowledge either. Doubt began to spread here and say: “From
where does this reliance on sensible knowledge come? The most powerful
Thereupon I investigated the various kinds of knowledge I had, and found
myself destitute of all knowledge with this characteristic of infallibility, except
in the case of sensible knowledge [the five senses] and the obvious. So I
said, “Now that despair has come over me, there is no point in addressing
any problems except on the basis of what is self-evident, namely the sensible
knowledge and the obvious. So I must perfect this first in order that I become
certain regarding sensible knowledge, same kind as my previous trust in the
beliefs I had merely taken over from others and as the trust most men have in
the results of thinking? Or is it a justified trust that is in no danger of being
betrayed or destroyed‟?
I therefore proceeded with extreme seriousness to reflect on sensible
knowledge and the obvious, to see whether I could make myself doubt them.
The outcome of this extended effort to induce doubt was that I could no longer
trust sensible knowledge either. Doubt began to spread here and say: “From
where does this reliance on sensible knowledge come? The most powerful