Philosophy and pragmatism

Some philosophers think doubting everything is a good way to start an inquiry. They believe it necessary to start an inquiry from a position which is presupposition less. To understand this, think of it as if you have a basket full of apples and you want only those apples in the basket that are fresh. One way to achieve this goal is by emptying the basket completely then refilling it by letting only those apples in the basket that are not spoiled. In this way you can get a basket full of fresh apples.

Similarly, you can start an inquiry by doubting all of your beliefs and keeping only those beliefs which are indubitable i.e. which you can’t doubt. In this way, we can build the foundation of our knowledge on absolutely certain grounds.

But, how can a person doubt his own existence, the existence of the world or the existence of other people? It is simply not possible for a person to doubt everything. How can people keep on living while at the same time doubting their very existence and the existence of the world

Peirce tells us that it is practically impossible to doubt everything.

If we have had genuine doubts about everything, we would be unable to continue our everyday lives. But, people do continue to live their lives. This shows that people don’t really have doubts about their own existence, the existence of the world, or the existence of other people. They are not really bothered by the problem of existence at all. Therefore, Peirce recommends that we should not pretend to doubt those things in philosophy which we don’t doubt in our hearts.

This common sense view of knowledge is completely different from the traditional view of knowledge that we find in western philosophy. The western tradition of philosophy has been developed on the principle that all of our beliefs should be examined critically.

No philosopher before Peirce has ever suggested that we should accept a belief for which we don’t have sufficient justification. But Peirce insists that it is the only way to knowledge. We have to take some things for granted to begin our inquiry. Otherwise our inquiry can’t get started.