"Рэймонд Смаллиан. Две философские сценки (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

EPISTEMOLOGIST: Must we go through this again? I have already patiently
explained to you that you (in the sense of your beliefs, not your
statements) are not in error.
FRANK: Oh, all right then, I simply do not believe that even the
statements are in error. Yes, according to the machine they are in error,
but why should I trust the machine?
EPISTEMOLOGIST: Whoever said you should trust the machine?
FRANK: Well, should I trust the machine?
EPISTEMOLOGIST: That question involving the word "should" is out of my
domain. However, if you like, I can refer you to a colleague who is an
excellent moralist--he may be able to answer this for you.
FRANK: Oh come on now, I obviously didn't mean "should" in a moralistic
sense. I simply meant "Do I have any evidence that this machine is
reliable?"
EPISTEMOLOGIST: Well, do you?
FRANK: Don't ask me! What I mean is should you trust the machine?
EPISTEMOLOGIST: Should I trust it? I have no idea, and I couldn't care
less what I should do.
FRANK: Oh, your moralistic hangup again. I mean, do you have evidence
that the machine is reliable?
EPISTEMOLOGIST: Well of course!
FRANK: Then let's get down to brass tacks. What is your evidence?
EPISTEMOLOGIST: You hardly can expect that I can answer this for you in
an hour, a day, or a week. If you wish to study this machine with me, we can
do so, but I assure you this is a matter of several years. At the end of
that time, however, you would certainly not have the slightest doubts about
the reliability of the machine.
FRANK: Well, possibly I could believe that it is reliable in the sense
that its measurements are accurate, but then I would doubt that what it
actually measures is very significant. It seems that all it measures is
one's physiological states and activities.
EPISTEMOLOGIST: But of course, what else would you expect it to
measure?
FRANK: I doubt that it measures my psychological states, my actual
beliefs.
EPISTEMOLOGIST: Are we back to that again? The machine does measure
those physiological states and processes that you call psychological states,
beliefs, sensations, and so forth.
FRANK: At this point I am becoming convinced that our entire difference
is purely semantical. All right, I will grant that your machine does
correctly measure beliefs in your sense of the word "belief," but I don't
believe that it has any possibility of measuring beliefs in my sense of the
word "believe." In other words I claim that our entire deadlock is simply
due to the fact that you and I mean different things by the word "belief."
EPISTEMOLOGIST: Fortunately, the correctness of your claim can be
decided experimentally. It so happens that I now have two brain-reading
machines in my office, so I now direct one to your brain to find out what
you mean by "believe" and now I direct the other to my own brain to find out
what I mean by "believe," and now I shall compare the two readings. Nope,
I'm sorry, but it turns out that we mean exactly the same thing by the word