QuoteProject
It is true that 'I seem to see a table' does not entail 'I see a table'; but 'I seem to feel a pain' does entail 'I feel a pain'. So scepticism loses its force - cannot open up its characteristic gap - with regard to that which ultimately most concerns us, pleasure and pain.
Galen Strawson
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote discusses the nature of perception and the certainty of feelings, asserting that while we can doubt what we see, we cannot doubt our feelings of pleasure and pain.

Galen Strawson's quote highlights a significant philosophical distinction between visual perception and sensory experience. It suggests that while one can question the validity of visual observations—such as whether a table is truly there—one's experiences of pleasure and pain are undeniable and cannot be subjected to the same level of skepticism. This indicates that when it comes to our fundamental sensations and emotions, skepticism falls short as these experiences truly matter to us.

Themes

PerceptionSensationSkepticismPleasurePain

In practice

Example use cases

During a philosophical lecture on the nature of reality, this quote might be used to emphasize the difference between skepticism and personal experience.

Similar quotes

It is of itself that the divine thought thinks (since it is the most excellent of things), and its thinking is a thinking on thinking.
AristotleRead
Not, how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of God’s money will I keep for myself?
John WesleyRead
Our forms of government - though both cast in the democratic pattern - are greatly different. Indeed, sometimes it appears that many of our misunderstandings spring from an imperfect knowledge on the part of both of us of the dissimilarities in our forms of government.
Dwight D. EisenhowerRead
Nothing is so false as human life, nothing so treacherous. God knows no one would have accepted it as a gift, if it had not been given without our knowledge.
Seneca The YoungerRead
He existed a step or two to one side of the common world, largely out of sight, a shadow, all but invisible. Whatever he owned, either he could hoist it on his back and lug it along or he could walk away from it. Anonymity was the thing he loved most about the city, being a part of it and apart from it at the same time.
James SallisRead
To say that we are sorry for our sins is mere hypocrisy, unless we show that we are really sorry for them, by giving them up. Doing is the very life of repentance.
J. C. RyleRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.