Stephen Law

Here is the final bit of my book Believing Bullshit . What follows is a cautionary bit of fiction, inspired by C.S. Lewis's fiction The Screwtape Letters , Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil , which are entertaining and often very insightful. I don't claim my mirror letters are as good as Lewis's, but they are offered in the same cautionary spirit. I refer in places to specific mechanisms explained in the book, such as "I Just Know!" and Going Nuclear (follow these links if you are interested, or better still buy the book!) The Tapescrew Letters Letters from a Senior to a Junior Guru (Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters ) Preface I have no intention of explaining how the correspondence which I now offer to the public fell into my hands. One or two details have been changed to save reputations, but the letters are substantially unrevised and intact.    Bear in mind that the author—an eminent guru within some minor, recently...

Hello Ibrahim Lots of interesting points being made here (especially in your comments on last three posts) – I won’t try to address them all. Seems to me one of the biggest issues you raise concerns the use of reason. Here’s a popular argument for general scepticism: Why suppose reason is a reliable route to the truth? Any justification of reason we offer will itself rely on reason, and so be unacceptably circular. So, that reason is a reliable route to truth cannot be justified. But if reliance on reason cannot be justified, then, because every justification relies on reason, nothing can be justified. So, all beliefs are equally irrational! Moreoever, if, to qualify as knowledge, a belief must be justified, knowledge is impossible too. Suppose I am involved in a debate – and I’m struggling to make my case. In fact, my opponent seems to have shown I’m wrong. Oh dear. What do I do? I might be tempted to make just this sceptical move. It offers a wonderful “get out of jail” card. I give ...