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Name: Andrew
Birthday: 6/16/1982
Gender: Male
Interests: Spending time w/friends; reading; studying; sharing stories; hearing other people share their stories; music-guitar/piano/etc.; discovering important truths; taekwondo/running/swimming; deep conversations; conversations that make me laugh so hard that my stomach hurts; nature; eating; sleeping; dreaming (awake or asleep); playing basketball; walks; connecting with God in whatever way possible.
Expertise: Philosophy (some day...). Christian apologetics.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
1/22/2003
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| I'm thinking about a view in epistemology which makes two claims:
NEC: You are in a position to assert something only if you know it.
SUFF: You know something only if you are in a position to assert it.
The combination of NEC and SUFF is called the knowledge norm of assertion.
To illustrate, I'm in a position to assert that I have hands only if I know that I have hands. And I know that I have hands only if I am in a position to assert it.
It's impossible to know that Santa exists (because he doesn't exist). Furthermore, I'm not in a position to assert, "Santa exists." NEC explains this. I'm in a position to assert that Santa exists only if I know that he does.
I believe that my lottery ticket will lose. But I don't know that it will lose. This seems true. Furthermore, I'm not in the position to flat out assert, "My lottery ticket will lose." According to NEC, I'm in a position to assert that my lottery ticket will lose only if I know that it will lose. And I don't know that. So I'm not in a position to assert it.
SUFF seems very plausible. If I know something, of course I'm in the position to assert its truth!
Are SUFF and NEC true?
A counterexample to NEC would be a case where I'm in a position to assert something but I don't know it.
A counterexample to SUFF would be a case where I know something, but I'm not in a position to assert it.
But it seems that knowing and being in a position to assert go together.
Lastly, the "position to" language is talking about one's evidential position. I might not be in the position to say something because I want to be polite or in line with a culture's customs or whatever. That's not what I'm talking about here. I might not be in a position to say something because of etiquette (e.g. "You're eyebrows are fuzzy") but be in an evidential position to assert it (because I can clearly see that they are fuzzy). That's what I'm concerned with.
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| I sent off my first job application to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. My chances? REALLY low. However, God's providentially enabled me to beat the odds before, so maybe he'll do so again!
About 35 more applications to go... =P | | |
| Tomorrow, I head off to Alabama to present a paper at the Alabama Philosophical Society. The president of the society, Ted Poston, is a Mizzou alum, a smart epistemologist, a good friend, and a strong believer. He convinced me to submit a paper by saying that I could stay at his house (so I don't have to pay for a hotel). Wow! How great!
The year I came to Mizzou in 2005 was his final year before he got his PH.D. He and his wife regularly invited me over on Sunday evenings to have a home cooked meal; that was really valuable for a guy who was struggling to adjust to Mizzou after having lived in Ohio all his life. He was of great encouragement to me, and I look forward to hanging out w/him (and others) at the conference!
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| In mid-June, I was running up the concrete steps of my public library with flip-flops and banged my big toe into the step. It bled a lot, and I wrapped it up.
In mid-July, the nail started to come off. Soon, it hung by a thread, and I just took it off. It was big, and I thought I might keep it because it was cool. My Dad thought that was a good idea, but my Mom thought that was gross. Encouraged by my Dad, I kept it on my desk for a month or two. Before I left back for Mizzou, however, I threw it away (thinking about my Mom).
Anyway, when I took the nail off, there was a little baby nail underneath. It is now October, and it seems to be growing crooked, into the skin. Will it ever grow back? I looked around the internet, and I saw someone recount her story of how it takes up to a year for a big toe nail to grow back.
I'm waiting to see what happens, and I hope it grows back.
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| On the third page of our college newspaper, "The ManEater", there was an article titled: "Students find spiritual homes at MU Campus Ministry Fair", and half the article was devoted to ACF! Not only that, but we weren't even at the MU Campus Ministry Fair! We actually just set up a table outside our student union. Adam's still not sure how they found us. Anyway, the article centered around one specific acf member, Jerryl Peralta. Please read!
[article begins]
Junior Jerryl Peralta said being a part of a religious group on campus renewed his faith when it was lost.
When Peralta came to his first Asian Christian Fellowship meeting as a sophomore transfer student last year, he said he was just in it for the dinner, not the Bible study afterward. After a difficult year of two family deaths, academic struggles, alcohol abuse and a breakup with a girlfriend of three years, Peralta said he had given up on faith.
But by the end of the academic year, ACF had helped him regain his faith and find supportive friends, Peralta said.
"The year of 2008, before coming down to Columbia, was just a complete and utter hell for me," Peralta said. "I'd try to communicate with the Lord but I wasn't receiving any feeedback. Being a part of ACF slowly but surely opened up that line of communication with him."
Peralta also said he appreciated the opportunity to make genuine friends through ACF because meeting people in large classes was difficult, and he knew only a few people from his high school. ACF members were quick to start up a conversation with Peralta, as well as offer to pray for him or help him out in any way they could.
"It meant a lot to me because, other than my family, I didn't know anyone else who was willing to take time out of their busy schedule to pray for me," Peralta said. "They offered their friendship right off the bat, without asking for anything in return. Being a part of ACF has had a huge influence on my life. Without them, I doubt I would have made it as far on my own."
[end of article]
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