A ChatGPT experiment in refuting relativism
Stylised using Augustine's Contra Academicos as a foundation. **** Dialogue 1 — “I cannot know anything for certain” Skeptic: I cannot know anything for certain. Augustine: Are you certain of that? Skeptic: Certainly. Augustine: Then you know at least one thing for certain — which means your statement is false. Skeptic: I cannot know whether I am certain or not. Augustine: In claiming that, you are both affirming and denying the very same thing — that you can and cannot know whether you are certain. Skeptic: I don’t follow. Augustine: Your statement assumes it is either true or false that you are certain — there is no middle ground. This assumption is the law of non-contradiction: that something cannot both be and not be in the same way at the same time. Skeptic: So, I must already accept this law to even say what I just said? Augustine: Exactly. Without accepting this, your words lose meaning and collapse into contradiction. Thus, your claim refutes itself, proving you already kn...