Originally posted by twhitehead
We should not strictly call them 'facts'. Nor should we reject them, but accept that we do not have absolute certainty of their validity.
So earlier in the thread when you talked of something having a probability of absolute zero, were you allowing for the kind of uncertainty here or not?
In your OP, does the zero refer to the kind of uncertainty here? ...[text shortened]... locity of zero. I still say that assigning a probability of zero to such an event is incoherent.
We should not strictly call them 'facts'. Nor should we reject them, but accept that we do not have absolute certainty of their validity.
So earlier in the thread when you talked of something having a probability of absolute zero, were you allowing for the kind of uncertainty here or not?
For logical possibilities, yes. For causal possibilities, no. That is because causal possibilities always ASSUME we know correctly the natural laws we
think we know correctly.
If I drop an apple, it is 'causally' a fact that it will fall down and not up and causally impossible for it to fall up. That is because if the law of gravity is what I assume it to be, it is impossible for the apple to fall up. But it is not 'logically' a fact because there is no logical contradiction in me assuming incorrectly natural law, including the law of gravity, thus it being logically possible for the apple to fall up.
Note " 'causally' a fact " and " 'logically' a fact" isn't conventional terminology; but I don't know how else to say it.
Let me put it this way:
A 'fact' (esp a scientific 'fact' ) about the world is 'causally' a fact, because it is causally impossible for it to be wrong, but never 'logically' a fact because it is logically possible for it to be wrong.