Theory of knowledge- When should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing - Essay Example

ally, I believe that it has some roots in our subconscious because with the help of it we express those ideas which we are unable to share or act upon otherwise; as those ideas cannot be supported by rationality. So, basically our instinct gets its guideline from our submissive feelings. The question demands here, should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing? Before giving concluding remarks we have to view the subject in the light of other knowledge-related issues like science.

First take this example of my own: I used to eat an excessive amount of chocolates on a daily basis, I am just obsessed with it; apart from the fact that it contains considerable amount of fat. But because I wanted to be able to justify my habit of eating chocolates in such large quantities, I did some research on the benefits which chocolate offers and found that it contains certain amount of chemicals like tryptophan, phenyl ethylamine and theobromine, that are good for the human brain and that, its consumption give some extra benefits to the human body, mind and spirit (Duke and Yeager 26).

These facts illustrate that it has some good nutrition elements in it that are find effective for the mind due to its ability of reducing tension. Thus, it formed the basis of an intuitively appealing explanation that would help me justify my obsession. Although these facts may have been proven, but those small percentages did not actually prove that it constitute a healthy eating habit. Without a doubt, the fact that it was made of more than half fat and sugar proved the exact opposite. So was I still able to accept my intuitively appealing explanation?

The main idea of this example was to show that intuitively appealing explanations that are false, with obvious evidence against it, should be discarded. So, we get a new idea here: we are talking about those explanations that are not definitely wrong and which are appealing to our intuition. The definitions of our actions as having