TheMadFool

I see. So, you think it's an impossible task to define ''meaning''. That means the paradox has no solution. Agree? (Y) @"StreetlightX"(Y) The paradox ...

That's another way to look at it. How so? That's scary. Are you serious? As noAxioms said, it's to be taken literally. I don't understand the math her...

Which truth has escaped from this predicament. Even religion, the pinnacle of goodness, has pernicious consequences. Look at the news. That said, I ag...

Are you referring to the Plato's Cave? How does that affect the paradox of meaning?

Sorry but if it's not too much trouble can you give me a synopsis of your understanding of definitions and how it addresses the paradox in my OP. Stil...

Without meaning being permanent, communication is impossible. As you correctly pointed, it needs consensus, and that's a way of making meaning permane...

So, you do agree that superstitions may be true. Causality may not be so simple. Whether the outcome is favaorable or not isn't what bothers me. The r...

What's your understanding of definition?

I see. I was using ''meaning'' and ''definition'' as synonyms. Apparently, there's a significant difference. Sorry for sending you offtrack. Anyway, l...

How so? See here

Unless there's an equality there's no meaning. God is defined as an omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent being. 1) Pray to God 2) Pray to the omn...

Synonym is a word/phrase with the same meaning as the word in question. So, it's the same thing - definition, synonym, all the same.

Ok. Do you agree that ''means'' is an equality claim, as in x means y can also be expressed as x = y. Is meaning just another way of naming?

Yes, if you read my discussion with other posters, I have described a simple process by which we gain understanding of what ''mean'' means. I'm no lin...

I read the link. It describes how language functions but it doesn't really explain/solve the issue I raised

To know the meaning of any word, first we must know the meaning of ''meaning'' and that can't be done without resorting to a circular definition. Try ...

In my defense... X means Y establishes an equality for the simple reason that, in a sentence, substituting one word with its definition shouldn't chan...

:( What's your theory then?

Here's what I think. I don't know the history of language and how it evolved but to make an educated guess... I think language evolved in very basic t...

Clarify please

By not knowing the meaning of ''meaning'' I don't know what either ''know'' or ''mean'' means:P

Yes, however, I can only know what knowing means if I know what ''mean'' means.

1. While defining a word we use the structure ''x means y'' where x is the definiendum and y is the definiens 2. To understand 1, we have to know the ...

Circular

Evolution is a truth. Truth doesn't imply good/bad. I think that's the gist of all philosophy. Seeking wisdom, things good and true, is futile for tha...

There may not be a central authority in Buddhism BUT it still has some truths that are universal in all its various branches. For instance, all Buddhi...

What is the meaning of the word ''sense''?

In the absence of an omnibenevolent god, the problem of evil is moot. The evil in the world, suffering in other words, is just your past bad deeds cat...

But that's a circular definition: ''sense'' and ''meaning'' are defined in terms of, well, meaning.

My concern is whether Buddhism is a coherent system or not. Samsara and Karma are coherent because 1. It explains away the problem of evil which plagu...

(Y)

Without reincarnating souls, Karma doesn't make sense at all. Karma, to work, clearly requires continuation of a soul. Otherwise, innocent people are ...

Fine. However, God pictures in Hinduism. While Jesus was unaware of emptiness, Buddha was in the know about divinity. He(?) even downgraded the Hindu ...

Well... There's no reason to think other possible worlds don't exist. It's like travelling in a car to work. You being you and the car being your worl...

The philosophical question that arises is... How does one recognize oneself? What gives us a unique identity that can be percieved to allow the distin...

But the Buddha didn't say anything about God. Why?

Your reason is: Buddha kept silent to encourage people to seek the truth themselves. This I said was unacceptable since you've just said it and it's e...

You've defined the universe in such a way that precludes any such possibility. However...I do see a solution so far as communication is on the menu. W...

(Y)

(Y)

But you just said God's incomprehensible. Shouldn't that preclude any knowledge, including and beyond God's existence? Anyway, that's a side point. Th...

Then how do you know God exists? According to you God's beyond comprehension. That puts God in the same bracket as chaos. How do you draw a heirarchy ...

Read below: This is relevant to my question. Reminds me of... Speech is silver. Silence is golden. Why? Why? Why?

@"Agustino", @"Wosret" There is one thing I know that is inexpressible - CHAOS. Is God = chaos?

So, you're saying Buddha was ignorant of God (omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipotent being). I find that highly implausible. Hinduism has the holy tri...

But it wasn't that the Buddha was unaware of a creator-god: Brahma Also, surely, a great mind as his must've considered an all powerful divinity.

Ok. ''God'' is an omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipotent being ''Exist'' means to have effects in our world and the afterlife (if that's true).

''God exists'' is not a concept. It's a proposition and therefore, has to be either true or false. Buddha refused to assign a truth value to that prop...

I would not. In fact, it would encourage me to seek an answer. I think that's true for others too.

Sorry.