METAPHYSICAL speculation is the last resort of politicians caught disregarding the facts. Pontius Pilate was an early example, with his musings about the nature of truth. More recently Bill Clinton was caught lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. He began to wonder about the meaning of the word “is”.

Now it is Tony Blair’s turn. The non-existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction has him questioning the relationship between knowledge and reality. In his Labour Party conference speech he asked himself: “Do I know that I am right?” And he gave an answer most philosophical. “Judgments aren’t the same as facts. Instinct is not science. I’m like any other human being, as fallible and capable of being wrong. I only know what I believe.”

This is a strange combination of banality and inanity. Who ever suggested that judgments are the same as facts? Or that intuition is science? Surely it goes without saying that Mr Blair is human and fallible. The only interesting claim here is that Mr Blair knows only what he believes.

Interesting and preposterous. It means that Mr Blair does not know that the sun rose this morning. He knows only that he believes that the sun rose. He knows nothing beyond the contents of his own mind. If true, it is an alarming confession from a Prime Minister.

Of course, Mr Blair’s metaphysics were not intended for serious scrutiny but only to create a certain impression. By contrasting his intuitive approach with the fact-based approach of science, the Prime Minister hoped to cast himself as one of those TV detectives who acts on hunches. Though he lacks evidence, our charismatic hero knows in his guts that the dictator did it. But those TV detectives have an advantage over Mr Blair. They inhabit the unreal world of television where the scriptwriter can guarantee that their hunches turn out right.

Perhaps Mr Blair believes that the great scriptwriter in the sky has chosen him as hero in the drama of reality. What else can explain his going to war on his intuitions? For those of us who lack the Prime Minister’s faith in his cosmic role, however, it would be reassuring if he paid less attention to the contents of his own mind and more to the reality in which the rest of us live.

Jamie Whyte is the author of Bad Thoughts: A Guide To Clear Thinking