TheMadFool

So Utopia is nonsense to you? Isn't it the ultimate goal of all nations? It's not attainable at present but this is due to prevailing circumstances bu...

Subjective to me is a matter of taste. An example would be what sort of food, game, movies, music, one likes. The hallmark of subjectivity is disagree...

If you ground morality on reality then stealing, lying, rape, murder, everything would be moral. Afterall all of the above are real. Morality is, at l...

Well, to look for extramental qualities in mental states would be like looking for edges of an egg. I think you're mistakenly lumping ALL that is ment...

I think, like @"Terrapin Station", you're confused between mental and subjective. If it is subjective, you wouldn't need to argue. For example people ...

Ok. What would be your first choice between consent and no consent re a relationship with another person? Ask anyone, barring the psychopath, and they...

So, not much progress. Why? Territory (philosophical subjects) or tool (logic) or both? I think the lack of progress in philosophy has more to do with...

Exactly, you have no choice - that's the definition of ''last resort''. Consider the hypothetical that you have the choice to consult the other party'...

Your position is just a tiny step away from chaos. If there are no rules, mayhem is inevitable. Besides that... I still find a problem with the distin...

Sorry I lumped all of you together in my reply but my question is generic. How far has philosophy progressed since Socrates? Does this paradox still h...

From what I've read (basic stuff), causal connections are not easy to establish, especially if attempted at the level of scientific rigor. Also, cause...

Flew over my head. Anyway, thanks

I don't think the distinction mental vs extramental is valid, nor is it useful. It's not valid because, thinking along these lines, nothing mental can...

Here's the thing: Relationships not based on consent are, essentially, a last resort. That is to say, on the ladder of morality it occupies the lowest...

I like the distinction you make between the two kinds of universals. One is just a form of convention and the other is grounded in facts. So, you thin...

@"Brian"(Y) I feel the primordial reaction to moral issues is emotion. We feel happy when we do something good and feel guilt, remorse, sadness when w...

I actually don't think this pet - children equivalence will go down well with some people. Anyway... Prevalent practice permits of guardianship on mor...

I think we're veering towards the concept of identity here. To my knowledge the issue remains unresolved in philosophy. All that means, to me, is that...

I agree. The biggest ''IF'' is about the notion life is suffering. You said: Denying both (a) and (b) leads to a contradiction. That stance is possibl...

I don't think so. Consent is key in any interaction between two/more people. Ask any court, anywhere. I accept the concept of mutually beneficial rela...

You're right but this logic fails because it can be used against you. Not knowing the tastes of a person denies you the right to think for him/her - n...

I don't think it's simply a cateogry error. Nonexistence does imply a freedom from suffering. And I think we have real experiences that validate such ...

I think Godel's incompleteness theorem is: 1) If a system is complete (as in every possible truth can be proved) then it's necessarily inconsistent (c...

I agree. Omnipotence doesn't have to follow rules, is complete freedom, and the word ''impossible'' simply has no meaning. It's a singularity for thos...

It's always interesting to test the limits of the human mind. I'm no genius so I may not say anything worthwhile. Anyway... One way to make sense of i...

Very interesting issue you brought up. I've come across it many times - didn't give it any thought. It does matter because atheists use the ''atheism ...

We see eye to eye on this issue. Consent is a keystone in ethics/morality. Without consent any relationship would automatically become an imposition a...

Thanks.

Great story! Maybe:P From what I know, physics is about symmetry, electron-proton, matter-antimatter, etc., and this, I believe, is a feature of the m...

I'm not a scientist and quantum physics is above my paygrade but I find it interesting that there's some sorta connection. It's actually amazing! What...

The way I see it is a particular form of a thing acquires an identity over and above that given by its composition. For example, take metal, plastic, ...

I downloaded S. Mitchell's Tao Te Ching. Thanks. The first line reads: Kinda makes me wonder what the whole book is about if the subject can't be "cal...

But the rules of your game preclude any such possibility. We must speak/write of things but the moment we do, the things we speak/write about exist. I...

You use existence in a very broad sense - in fact I think your meaning of existence involves ALL domains of human experience - be it mental or physica...

I think it's necessary to put what a man (or woman) utters in the context of his/her times - the socio-cultural milieu that influences him/her. Did Ni...

Thanks for the book recommendation.

So, the Tao Te Ching is trying to express the inexpressible. This puzzles me. I too have had experiences that make my rational side uncomfortable - th...

Isn't quantum physics about randomness? If it is then it sabotages determinism but that still isn't enough to infer free will. After all, we still can...

I see, the problem is a fundamental one - like trying to observe animal behavior crudely, unaware that the observer alters the behavior of the animals...

Determinism, in my view, is the belief that the past completely determines the future. Maybe that's a bit confusing, bringing time into the picture. A...

If I'm not mistaken, science to had similar beginnings - a lot of speculation and very little data. It was only comparatively recent that science got ...

I think its achievable and I especially like what you said: It makes your success a thing to applaud. I hope you succeed.

Ah! Middle path?

Bold mine. Western philosophy warns us against it. Trust in ourselves is often betrayed. Isn't this why logic and rationality are so vehemently emphas...

Some things about the definition of nothing: The scope of nothing's definition is quite broad. At one end it could simply be the negation of something...

The three major religions are revelatory in nature. They weren't born out of deduction, rather, intuition seems to be it. Of course one could speculat...

I'm agnostic and so the OP pinches me where it hurts. I wouldn't want to hold self-defeating thoughts - it's so hard to find them and getting rid of t...

Thanks...please share your insights

To discard the ego is only possible at a certain level of consciousness. Is this success/failure I can't tell because if you look at it one way, ants ...

First, hank you for you interest in my argument. However, as you directed me to point 2 of your post, note that the issue is whether the universe is d...