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| | <pre> | | <pre> |
| − | If inquiry begins in doubt, then inquiry into inquiry begins in
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| − | doubt about doubt. All things considered, the formula "y_0 = y y"
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| − | has to be taken as the first attempt at a description of the problem,
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| − | a hypothesis about the nature of inquiry, or an image that is tossed out
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| − | by way of getting an initial fix on the object in question. Everything in
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| − | this account so far, and everything else that I am likely to add, can only
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| − | be reckoned as hypothesis, whose accuracy, pertinence, and usefulness can
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| − | be tested, judged, and redeemed only after the fact of proposing it and
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| − | after the facts to which it refers have themselves been gathered up.
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| − | A number of problems present themselves due to the context in which
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| − | the present inquiry is aimed to present itself. The hypothesis that
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| − | suggests itself to one person, as worth exploring at a particular time,
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| − | does not always present itself to another person as worth exploring at
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| − | the same time, or even necessarily to the same person at another time.
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| − | In a community of inquiry that extends beyond an isolated person and
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| − | in a process of inquiry that extends beyond a singular moment in time,
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| − | it is therefore necessary to consider the nature of the communication
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| − | process that the discussion of inquiry in general and the discussion of
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| − | formalization in particular need to invoke for their ultimate utility.
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| − | Solitude and solipsism are no solution to the problems of community and
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| − | communication, since even an isolated individual, if ever there was, is,
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| − | or comes to be such a thing, has to maintain the lines of communication
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| − | that are required to integrate past, present, and prospective selves --
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| − | in other words, translating everything into present terms, the parts of
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| − | one's actually present self that involve actual experiences and present
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| − | observations, do present expectations as reflective of actual memories,
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| − | and do present intentions as reflective of actual hopes. Consequently,
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| − | the dialogue that one holds with oneself is every bit as problematic
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| − | as the dialogue that one enters with others. Others only surprise
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| − | one in other ways than one ordinarily surprises oneself.
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| − |
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| | I recognize inquiry as beginning with a "surprising phenomenon" or | | I recognize inquiry as beginning with a "surprising phenomenon" or |
| | a "problematic situation", more briefly described as a "surprise" | | a "problematic situation", more briefly described as a "surprise" |