TheMadFool

The issue is simple: Godel claims any given axiomatic mathematical system is incomplete because there's always going to be a mathematical proposition ...

@"unenlightened" I must confess that I didn't understand the proof in the link but one thing stood out: the proof in the link made the following contr...

@"Relativist" The problem is this: if I can't prove a proposition in a given system x, that proposition can't belong to that system. Proof of a propos...

There's a difference between "can be true" and "is true". Godel statements are not of the "can be true" type, they're of the "is true" type. The trans...

Then you think the question is significant? How might we answer this question?

Important clause.

True BUT unprovable? How? That a proposition is true means you have a proof that demonstrates that proposition to be true and unprovable means you don...

Why is it a stupid question? I see no contradiction. Perhaps it's impossible to answer but that doesn't seem to make it stupid for one needs a reason ...

Is Descartes' position justified or not?

Please explain.

I see an evolution, a progression, perhaps a regression if you really look at it, from scientific and philosophiical ignorance on the question, throug...

So, if I take a proposition, even a controversial one, as a premise, it shuts down the opposition? I could make atheism cease to to "work" by making "...

What's their argument?

Matter could be an illusion.

Prove it. Sorry. Ok Is the following argument better? 1. All physical things are things perceived through the senses 2. All things perceived through t...

A small problem with the analogy. In the story of the infinite stack of turtles, it's as you say, turtles all the way down and the issue with this kin...

Agreed but I didn't contest that. That means the statement "all physical things are sensory perceptions" is false which implies the truth of the state...

I understand what you mean: you identify experiencing with that which is experienced as the following statement indicates. My question is how do you e...

Well, it all turns on the nature of experience. In my humble opinion there are three parts to experience which I'll explain with sight and a flower: 1...

This is questionable. There is no necessity for the physical - it could be an illusion.

Any ideas how Descartes argued for a non-physical "thinking thing"?

Good question. I've been asking the same question to others without getting a proper answer. I guess you could say that an immaterial thing is somethi...

If you speak of such things as "under one understanding", you draw a distinction between one sense of a word/term and another. Ok, although I'd like t...

:up: :ok:

:up: :ok: I just want to run this by you for your opinion. You're right about the translation of "cogito ergo sum" as "thinking, therefore being". All...

That's correct of course but the point is this isn't about the who? - the personhood of the doubter, although I suspect it'll be important later on; t...

A question is framed in a 7 dimensional coordinate system where each axis represents a particular type of information requested by who? what? when? wh...

The existence of the doubter is certainly beyond doubt.

:up: good luck

There lies the rub: to doubt there must be a doubter. You can doubt anything but you can't doubt the existence of the thing that doubts. See my reply ...

I see no violation of logic.

Descartes was a dualist. I'm only concerned about difference in the level of certainty regarding his belief in minds and the physical world. The cogit...

But Descartes proved his own existence, and by extension, the existence of anyone else capable of making the cogito ergo sum argument.

Why unreasonable? What constitutes a reasonable doubt? I consider something unreasonable iff it entails a contradiction or is in violation of the rule...

Does the cogito ergo sum make sense to you? If it does, then you exist.

:up: :clap: I'm getting the feeling that wisdom isn't about what but about how, one thinks.

@"bert1"@"Banno"@"Harry Hindu"@"charles ferraro" The point is simple: materalism is reportedly a position of skepticism, skepticism of things belongin...

I had similar thoughts on the issue of mind being some kind of fiction. Take Descartes's cogito ergo sum argument which, reportedly, proves the existe...

I'm sympathetic to this Bill whoever s/he is. Firstly, to reject unquestionable answers is to be wary of what has been a grave issue for much of human...

Is the list a through g the Democritean idea of human folly? Democritus thought humans were stupid and that, to him, was laughable but the mother of a...

Brilliant :clap: Yet, I don't think Democritus would've laughed at "you", whoever it is that suffers the fatal fall into the open sewer but he would'v...

I'm completely in the dark regarding how businesses are run on the web but if you're correct then it looks very much like businesses are getting a fre...

@"jgill" Your take on the issue of an infinite past is interesting. Reminds me of Zeno's paradox of motion. So, the past could be finite, say it exten...

There's this romantic image of the media as the source of unbiased, good quality information. Some have swallowed this ideal picture of the media hook...

Can you explain this a bit more? Do you mean viewers are in control of what ads they want to see? If yes then what needs mentioning is tailoring ads t...

Descartes' cogito ergo sum begins by negating exactly that which you're trying to affirm - your (our) reality. I don't know how someone could begin a ...

So you think people have non-hedonic values? What might they be? I'm dying to know.

:up:

Any ideas on what human folly actually refers to? :chin:

Let's try tackling this in a different way. There are 4 possibilities concerning Nozick's point of view. I'll list them in order of decreasing prefere...