-
The_Savior_from_Spiritual_Error, page : 41
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 sense is that of sight. Yet when it looks at the shadow it sees
it standing still, and judges that there is no motion. Then by experiment and
observation after an hour it knows that the shadow is moving and moreover,
that it is moving not by stops and starts, but gradually and steadily by
infinitely small distances in such a way that it is never in a state of rest.
Again, it looks at the sun and sees it small, like the size of a quarter; yet
geometrical calculations show that it is larger than the earth”.
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 sense is that of sight. Yet when it looks at the shadow it sees
it standing still, and judges that there is no motion. Then by experiment and
observation after an hour it knows that the shadow is moving and moreover,
that it is moving not by stops and starts, but gradually and steadily by
infinitely small distances in such a way that it is never in a state of rest.
Again, it looks at the sun and sees it small, like the size of a quarter; yet
geometrical calculations show that it is larger than the earth”.