"A Somewhat Sceptical Philosophy" was privately printed in
the Fall of 1998. Its major purpose and claim to some originality lies
in its association with and support of modern American pragmatism
(Quine through Rorty) through an examination of what science says
about the nature of our interactions with the world.

It is 240 pages and it has three purposes: firstly it is designed to
be an introductory text in philosophy for seniors in high school and
college freshmen, indeed for any thinkers who are beginning the search
for their own answers to the so-called great questions of life. Some
basic science is reviewed, some childhood learning examined and some
conmmonly accepted foundations criticised before I discuss and examine
some of the weighty words that are so freely used in such classes.
Among these are truth, reality and existence. Armed with that useful and
universal question,"How do you know?", I discover that they are
remarkably lightweight in comparison to their influence in language,
so we must be careful not to exceed our license in using them. I suggest
four frameworks for understanding at different levels the relation of
our language to the world.

The second purpose is to associate and support American pragmatism by
means of a view of science which shows that our thoughts of what there
is are formed from the dynamic flow of photons from the outside
transposed at our sensitive surfaces into electrochemical signals in
the nerves. It is from this sequence of events that we construct our
appreciation and accounting of what we call the real world,
of things, of stasis, space and time. I conclude that our intellectual
furniture, consisting as it does of concepts and their relations, is
our own creation and so subject to mistakes and to revision. It is
from this point of understanding that we must go beyond science, and so
beyond discipline and reliability, for our individual constructions of
philosophical answers to the so-called great questions of life.

The third purpose is to suggest such a philosophy which is
my own though it is in no way forced upon the reader: rather it is
conceived as a challenge for the reader to adopt, modify or reject
for him or herself. It is akin to that of Bertrand Russell in his
"Free Man's Worship".

--Keith Palmer, author of "A Somewhat Sceptical Philosophy"