It completely ignores the important questions of who it is that is doing the knowing

Amos: when I drink a lot of a fairly simple mixture of about 60% H2O plus 40% C2H5OH (plus traces of phenolic compounds), is it my material body or my non- material spirit that starts malfunctioning? Why doesn't my spirit make correct decisions like whether it is sensible to apply a repeat 25cl dose of the mixture, or indeed should the dose increase to, say, 50cl?

Repeated observations over a long-term period of study suggest that it is the carbon- containing compound which affects the spirit. In concentrations down to 2% or so the tendency towards spiritual malfunction is observed, though the rate of deterioration decreases. Lower than this, the decision to apply a repeat dose is rarely observed.

The spirit is also discriminatory as to the precise nature of the carbon- containing compound. If the mixture contains C2H4OH the spirit declines a repeat dose at any concentration, while using C6H12O6 (with a small addition of C6H8O7) a small number of repeat doses of about 200ml may be requested, but no spiritual deterioration is observed.

My tentative conclusion is that, if we refer to whoever it is that is doing the knowing as "the spirit", the spirit is alcohol- soluble.