https://ethw.org/Histelcon
; http://www.ivorcatt.co.uk/x857.htm
24.1.2021 Afterthought. I now realise that we could
further modify the knowingly question. A long time ago
it was alleged that cattq was a “wrong question”. I
think we can dismiss that option. However, we could add a fourth comment to the
possible replies to the knowingly question; “Yes”, “No”, “refusal to reply”,
“misleading question”. I suggest this as a good, fourth option for a beleaguered
instrumentalist – Howie, Josephson, Davies, Palmer.
The breakthrough Popper should have made when
attacking instrumentalism http://www.ivorcatt.co.uk/x231.pdf
, which today controls “science”; the bogus
oxymoronic “philosophy”, instrumentalism; “the truth that there are no truths”,
should have been to ask; “If there are no truths, are there lies?” As I typed
this, I first mistyped; “If there are no truths, are
there liers?
Tony
Dear Tony,
Ten
hours ago you received the question from me. I wrote;
" Anyway, this is shadow boxing. My important
question for you, which I repeat, is; "Should you lie to students in order
to help an electrician to wire up a house?"
Thank goodness you
have not answered yet. The correct question includes';
"knowingly".
"Should you knowingly lie to students in order to help an
electrician to wire up a house?"
I realised the omission, so I got up at 2am to put
the omission right. Fortunately you have not answered
yet.
Only this morning
do I realise that this dialogue bears directly on what happened between me, you
and Hsue.
If you understand
what is at stake, you will still refuse to answer the question;
"Should you knowingly lie to students in order to help an
electrician to wire up a house?"
"Should you knowingly lie to
students in order to help an electrician to wire up a house?"
There is much at stake.
Ivor
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The key point is that it is more difficult for an
expert to teach a subject, because he knows that what he has to teach is to get
his students through their exams, not to increase the expertise of his
students.
When I was a lecturer, the head of my department, John
Lythgoe, worked for a year to get me fired, and failed. I felt that, with wife
and four kids to finance, I was entitled to lie to my students so they could
score the top marks. (In our interview when Lythgoe asked me to resign, he told
me I was incompetent in all of my duties, but in particular I could not teach.
I looked across in astonishment at my book on his shelves. http://www.ivorcatt.co.uk/x488.pdf
My co-author, Dr. David Walton, also then a teacher,
thought I was immoral to lie to students. But he only had one child. I had been
fired repeatedly, but he may never have been fired, even though he was very
expert, but also honest. He became a clergyman later.)
Ivor Catt 23.1.2021
A real expert can only get you through exams if he is
dishonest.
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Later on 23.1.2021
To the question; "Should you knowingly lie to students in order to help an
electrician to wire up a house?"
There is much at
stake.
You, Tony, have shown us that there are three, not
two, possible answers. We now add to the two known answers; “Yes”, “No”, your
third answer; “I refuse to answer.” This is the reply for an instrumentalist
like you. You have not done so in a mere four words, but obfuscated with 796 words. So the
dishonest answer is camouflaged, even perhaps from yourself. Instrumentalists
can never have thought through their position.
http://www.ivorcatt.co.uk/tony11.htm
Yes or No?
You are making a very valuable contribution to the
Philosophy of Science. Palmer lectures on it in Oxford, and should be very
interested. I will add his comment here; ……….