It is kind of funny how this is our topic for this week because just earlier today I was unsure if something I had experienced was in my dreams or if it actually happened. It was something that was insignificant and only took a second of my life, but I still remember it from somewhere, though the source of that memory is hazy to me. How do I know if this memory is real or not? I believe the memory is real because I have it, but I do not know if it was derived from my actual experience or from my imagination. But then again, how do I know if anything is actually from reality? If dreams and reality can be so easily confused with each other, would it not be the case that I in fact do not know what is "real"? That begs the question: How do I know what I know?
This is my own form of the Descartes "Meditations". This actually did happen to me and I am not just trying to mimic Descartes. Descartes was trying to answer the question "How do I know what I know?" This question can be thought of in two regards 1) by what process did I come to know something OR 2) how do I know what I know to be certain?
I don't think certainty can be philosophically proven. Trying to prove certainty usually leads me into confusion. How do I know that my experience was imaginary or a dream? I do not think I can prove one because there can always be an argument for other. Since this experience which I am talking about is insignificant, I will probably just shrugg it off and move on, never knowing if it was real or imaginary. I guess I will "almost certain" about something when I find it......clearly and distinctly.......wow, I am turning into Descartes!
Lol at the end. But maybe you could find defenses for each side yourself. It's tough, but I know you can do it.
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