Talk:Here is a hand

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In the "Effect" section of this article is the following entry:

"Although perhaps not a supplement to Moore's argument, it has been mentioned in undergraduate philosophy classes that Moore famously mistook his own sense perception once in a lecture. Whereby he claimed 'there is a window' pointing at a curtain in a gymnasium, but when a student pulled the curtain away it was merely a wall. Whether this is a philosophical urban legend or not, there is little doubt that optical illusions and hallucinations can cause unreliable sense perceptions."


I don't believe "optical illusions" and "hallucinations" are accurate terms in that scenario. He did not believe he SAW a window, but rather he ASSUMED there to be a window. There was no illusion or hallucination, either of which would mean he saw a glass-paned window that did not in fact exist. He saw only curtains, and assumed the nature of what lay behind. I suppose it is true, then, that "'false assumptions' can cause unreliable sense perceptions."

[edit] The formalising of Moore’s argument

Isn't the argument better described as it actually appears? As O, ~H -> ~O |- H?