On Truth and Falsity

                 The Skeptics Cannot Avoid Reality

The skeptics admit they they can use their minds to establish a system that allows them to use their idea of nothing to exclude from their systems all judgments as to whether or not any of their appearances are real or not real. They do not mean that their idea of nothing can negate appearances; they only mean that their idea of nothing gives them the ability to consider all their appearances as being equal to nothing as far as their suspension of judgment is concerned. pb. OP ps. 74-75.

But when the skeptic asserts that he can use his mind that possesses the idea of nothing that he can use to make his suspension of judgment about the reality or unreality of his appearances, he has actually established a system that works to produce a result. He admits that his mind, by its use of his idea of nothing, can formulate a system that actually produces a result, even if that result is false. In other words, he admits that his mind and his idea of nothing can be used to formulate a system that produces a result which means that his mind and his idea of nothing have to be real because if they were not real, they would be useless. Even in the skeptical philosophy, the skeptic cannot avoid the fact that the powers of human reason can formulate systems by the use of its sense objects and thought objects that produce results even if those results are false. The usefulness of the mind and all of its sense objects and thought objects can only be real.

The skeptics also claim that for every argument that the dogmatists make for the reality of appearances, the skeptic can devise an equal argument that appearances cannot be real. pb. OP ps. 75-79. But the skeptics ignore the fact that the dogmatists attempt to formulate appearances into systems that benefit their fellow humans, even it only by an increase in knowledge. The dogmatists can also formulate systems that prove to be useless and false, but in either case, the dogmatists formulate systems that really and undeniably produces results. Because the dogmatists can formulate systems that produce real results, whether true or false, then the elements of those systems; that is, the appearances, must themselves prove to be useful, and therefore, true and real. Otherwise, the appearances themselves would be useless, and no systems of any kind could be formed from them.

One of the mistakes the skeptics make is that they can easily formulate systems that can demonstrate that appearances could be untrue when they ignore the usefulness of systems of appearances. Appearances, considered by themselves, could be true or false if they are not used in any way. Sextus Empiricus was a physician, but apparently, he ignored the fact that when he mixed the elements of his medicines together and gave a medicine to a patient and that patient recovered from his sickness, then that fact had to mean that his system of medicine helped his patient to really recover, and therefore, every element of his medicine had to be true and real.

The skeptics also assert that if any system of appearances should prove to be useless or simply a matter of speculation or opinion, then that fact would also prove that the elements of those systems could also be useless and untrue. But they ignore the fact that the ability of the mind to use its appearances to formulate any system, whether true or false or speculative, proves that the mind and all of its appearances have to be true and real. If the mind and all of its appearances actually existed in a state between truth and falsity, then even if appearances existed at all, they could only exist in a state of complete chaos and uselessness.