PossibleAaran

This was an idea which I was friendly with in my previous post, but I am now doubting the point of saying it. We could count as a philosopher anyone w...

Sorry for skipping over you Moliere! The method I am accepting is quite straight forward. When I look at the piece of paper its existence is something...

This view, that "everything is connected" blatantly assumes that things exist unperceived. Take the drone of an electric motor example. When I hear th...

Well, 1 doesn't entail that things exist unperceived. So what is the inference from 1 to the view that things exist unperceived? You haven't said, and...

I didn't make the obviously fallacious argument that you mention. So, the belief that the coffee exists unperceived isn't one that can be reliably est...

PS, Apologies if this post contains any serious typos. It is quite late and I'm tired. I did try to proof read as usual.

Yes it would establish that the paper exists every nano second that it is photographed. But this wouldn't exhaust the content of what I believe about ...

I like 's list of kinds of philosopher. It is pretty inclusive. I'm a philosopher of type A. That is, I read, study and teach philosophy as an academi...

I do remember your camera argument and I hoped that this thread would bring you back! I failed to make clear enough distinctions before and that lead ...

But what is the significance of this for our topic? Why is that a problematic account? Is any theory which isn't the story which you already accept "a...

Then I agree. Fascinating. I hope you are right about this. Could you tell me, what is it about doubting the veracity of memory that entails that all ...

Am I right to understand that what makes 2+2=4 dubitable is that although I might decide the meanings of "2" and "4" such that it is indubitable, its ...

Not really, since the meaning of "2" and "4" is something I can stipulate. I can stipulate that by "2" I mean: I I and by "4" I mean: I I I I What abo...

I am inclined to say that I cannot really doubt that 2+2 = 4. What I mean, specifically, is that I cannot imagine any way in which 2+2 does not equal ...

We already agreed that the Idealist can posit (a) a car hurtling towards him when he sees it, and (b) a car hitting him in the back when he feels it. ...

Your argument is that if Idealism were true and I saw a car coming towards me, I could stop myself getting hit just by looking away, since the car onl...

But this feeling that the diver has is one which he has as a result of falling. The idea of falling obviously assumes that there is somewhere to fall ...

What is pathological about desiring one's theories to be stable and lasting - immune from future upheaval? What is awful about what Descartes does?

It does not follow from the fact that the paper is there every time I look, that it is there when I am not looking. This demonstrates the existence of...

There must be a distinction between what I think is given in perception and what is actually given in perception, just as there is a distinction betwe...

Its true that I am what I am because everything else is not me. But it isn't true that nothing outside of me can change without me changing. In fact, ...

Yes it does. No it doesn't, and I would never make this inference. That is, the fact that an object, O, exists when perceived by me does not entail th...

This is compatible with everything ceasing to exist when no one is perceiving it, so how does this support the view that things exist unperceived? How...

Maybe. But there is more than one type of parsimony, and it isn't clear that the view that some things exist when unperceived is more parsimonious in ...

So? Lacking a reason to think that Not-P is not a reliable means of establishing that P. It isn't a reliable method of establishing anything. I explai...

I am not particularly concerned about black holes or dark matter here. In front of me at the moment is a piece of paper. How do I know that this piece...

What does it tell you about him? Best, PA

I assumed you were working with the definition of 'Constitutive Rule' given earlier in the thread, according to which a Constitutive Rule is an ostens...

And this means that constitutive rules don't stop the regress. Sense perception does.

Sticking with our sheep example, I need not doubt that there are any things at all in order to make my point. I need only ask, in the specific case in...

Sorry about this. Forgot to tag.

Let me stick with your sheep example and press on it. We find an animal and we decide to call it 'sheep'. I agree it makes no sense now to ask what ju...

I am not asking how we determine which words to attach to which circumstances. I am telling you the following fact: (a) There are certain circumstance...

Hi , The trouble with the account you propose is that Constitutive Rules are supposed to be regress stoppers. Suppose I say "whatever is going on righ...

Suppose then that I suspend judgement about whether this is a hand. More exactly, I doubt that there is a this at all. I suspend judgement on whether ...

You first said that belief and doubt "would not be possible" without the constitutive rules. But now you say that belief and doubt "would not make sen...

I must not understand what is meant here, because if I take the words in the way I find natural, what you say is obviously not true. "No belief or dou...

Hi Thanks for the detailed criticism. I agree with all of the background remarks. The first premise of the Plantingan argument is: (3) It is possible ...

What do you mean doubt needs 'justification'? What counts as a 'justification' for doubting something? Could you give an example?

That is exactly what I would say. I agree that in a sense, IF you believe that the Jews possess all of those negative qualities, and IF you believe th...

I agree, but to say this is to say something very different to saying that propositions like "this is a hand" are constitutive rules which need no jus...

The starting premise is that it is logically possible that a maximally great being exists. If someone believes that a maximally great being does exist...

I am sure you are right about that. I am only imagining at most five or six worlds. And not only do I think I can imagine that one of these six sphere...

Thanks for the clarification. It depends what is meant by saying "this counts as a hand". As I said, if it is an ostensive definition of "hand" then I...

I can't see how rationality leads to evil deeds, even some times. Name one evil deed which was the result of rational thought? I know some people have...

It isn't that a necessary thing must exist because a necessary thing is defined as something which exists in every possible world. Rather, if the conc...

Hi Interesting reply. So a constitutive rule is a proposition which takes a certain form. You would read 'here is a hand' as 'this counts as a hand'. ...

I think you are right about this. While the assumption is defended by defining God as 'the most perfect being', this defence is objectionable on the g...

The Ontological Argument is given a bad time in this thread. I think a study of the Ontological Argument has taught us more about logic than almost an...

I've always found the idea of hinge-propositions difficult. I share some of 's doubts but let me ask some different questions. Supposedly, hinge propo...