On Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:14:18 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> On 4/24/2011 21:14, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Either you are or you're not.  Belief doesn't come into this.
> 
> My belief and the reality of the two are technically orthogonal. Of
> course, my belief is causally caused by the reality of the fact that I
> am indeed sitting in a chair, along with the fact that my senses are
> brain functions are working pretty close to normal.
> 
> The fact that I *am* sitting in a chair does not in any way negate the
> fact that I believe I'm sitting in a chair. I'm not sure how you dismiss
> my belief that I'm sitting in a chair as unrelated to the discussion of
> whether that's actually a belief.

It isn't a belief, though - nor is it a matter of opinion.  It's a hard 
fact.

>> This is a much more complex statement, though - evidence suggests that
>> you (and Patrick, and everyone else here) is an actual person.  Belief
>> may play into this.
> 
> I'm not sure why you're arguing this.
> 
> "Do you remember what color car the suspect was driving?"
> 
> "I believe it was reddish, maybe orange."
> 
> How about "Do you recognize this composer?"  "I believe it's Bach." Does
> that mean if it really is Bach, you don't actually believe it's Bach?

In this instance "believe" = "think" (as in "I'm not certain if it is or 
not, but it sounds like Bach to me", or "I don't remember, it could have 
been reddish, it could have been orange").

Do you not remember if you are presently sitting in a chair or not?

Jim

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