There’s some tricky phrases in this litany that I don’t quite endorse like “I desire to believe” and “beliefs I may not want”
Because Zen is about giving up attachment to desires, but epistemic rationality is about giving up attachment to beliefs? What wording could you endorse here instead?
The Litany of Tarski made quite an impression on me. It expressed something I had long considered important, but couldn’t put my finger on. I’ve played around with variations of it, to try and make it more succinct without losing its spark, but “want” or “desire” have been in all my versions so far. If I try to express the point more directly, maybe it’s something about (positively) “believing not-X” being distinct from “not believing X”, plus an accurate belief being good (desirable) either way the world is. Moving the negation was important.
How do we talk about motivation and value judgement without them being fused to self and desire?
Because Zen is about giving up attachment to desires, but epistemic rationality is about giving up attachment to beliefs? What wording could you endorse here instead?
The Litany of Tarski made quite an impression on me. It expressed something I had long considered important, but couldn’t put my finger on. I’ve played around with variations of it, to try and make it more succinct without losing its spark, but “want” or “desire” have been in all my versions so far. If I try to express the point more directly, maybe it’s something about (positively) “believing not-X” being distinct from “not believing X”, plus an accurate belief being good (desirable) either way the world is. Moving the negation was important.
How do we talk about motivation and value judgement without them being fused to self and desire?
At a first pass, an improved wording might sound something like this:
The Litany as written does point to something very important. Still, it’s possible that it could point more precisely.