A Rhino On The Nose

                                

“Faced with sensory evidence of a charging rhino, it’s virtually impossible not to believe that a rhino is charging“.”

So states a contributor to a recently published book designed to answer those everyday questions Homo sapiens rarely ask. Sensory evidence is what you and I would call seeing the rhino, hearing it and smelling its droppings which we have inadvertently stepped in.

It may come as a surprise to discover that the statement is incorrect.  No doubt the contributor feels comfortable with his statement because the so-called impossibility is described as virtual rather than actual; an impossibility that is not actually impossible.  Is it any wonder philosophers have a reputation for saying things they don’t mean and meaning things they don’t say?  Do you suppose the contributor wants us to understand that faced with such evidence we must believe that a rhino is charging?   If so the statement is false.

Believing is not a difficult concept to unpack as long as we remember that believing something is the case is not the same as knowing it is the case.  If you take a moment to describe what is before you, say on the table or desk you will be obliged to admit that if you described what you saw then you believed what you described else why describe it that way?  This is what is meant when we say seeing is believing but notice you have not been asked to verify the truth of your beliefs.  You may have looked at a letter opener and mistakenly described it as a dagger.  Macbeth had a similar problem.  Is this a dagger before me or am I expecting mail?  In your case you believe it is a dagger.

How do you suppose we learned to believe anything?   (see Myths that Misinform the Philosophy of Art in this blog.)  Philosophers often remind us that we cannot believe something we cannot think but the inverse is also the case.  We can believe anything we can think.  The contributor I spoke of earlier believes in virtual impossibilities but he is mistaken.  What, if like our contributor, I am mistaken.  I have never seen a rhino and know nothing of its existence.  I saw a drawing of an elephant once and here is what I believe to be an elephant with a hardened nose bearing down on me.  My belief is mistaken because my language use is not applicable.  Nevertheless I’m convinced so it must be possible not to believe that a rhino is charging even though I am faced with sensory evidence of the rhino.  Think on’t  and I’ll catchya later.

Launt Thompson

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