You are viewing the historical archive of The Philosophy Forum.
For current discussions, visit the live forum.
Go to live forum

Are We Discussing the Same Subjects?

YuZhonglu April 17, 2019 at 11:07 1775 views 3 comments
For example: take Free Will. Philosopher A argues Human Free Will is so and so, and Philosopher B argues that Human Free Will is something else. Happens a lot, right?

The general consensus is that each philosopher is referring to the "same" free will but their intepretations differ. But, you know, why do we have to assume they're writing about the "same" concept? It's not like there's some mysterious Ideal of Free Will floating above each of our heads. After all, my Will is different from yours. From the written evidence, I can just as easily argue that each philosopher is writing about a DIFFERENT Free Will, which is why they can't seem to agree. They're not interpreting the SAME concept differently. They're writing about different concepts but calling it by the same name.

And this problem is not just about "Free Will." Let's say internet user Bob says "The West is good," and internet user Harry says "no, the West is evil." Are they even talking about the "same" West? Perhas the reason they disagree is because Bob and Harry are each thinking of a different West. Just because two people call their concepts by the same name doesn't mean they're thinking about the same concept.

Comments (3)

Deleted User April 17, 2019 at 12:30 #278130
This user has been deleted and all their posts removed.
RBS April 17, 2019 at 12:54 #278135
Reply to YuZhonglu I believe subjects are not changed but are the same and will remain the same.
In every culture or region "Free Will" is defined differently but that doesn't mean that they have different meaning, yes different interpretation and definitions.....To me a good philosopher should not look for the differences but rather stand on the similarities to reach to understanding....

Before educating someone the idea of universality should be taught. If that is the case then we won't be facing the problems that we are now.
YuZhonglu April 17, 2019 at 19:52 #278295
Every generation believes that what they believe in is eternal. And yet two centuries later, very few of their descendants continue to believe in what they had believed. And then these descendants claim their belief system is eternal and correct, only to be ignored and dismissed as "stupid" two centuries after that.

If concepts are so eternal, then why are they always changing?