Ludwig V

That can happen. So it seems a good idea, before embarking on any criticism, to confirm that one's speculations or assumptions are correct or not. No?...

Sorry, I put my point badly. The definition is being developed by the people, and applied by the machine. So whatever your philosophical machine can d...

I believe that it is not appropriate behaviour to base an argument on a philosophical doctrine that I do not believe. "If P then Q" is not a sound arg...

Your project, as far as I understand it, is to develop a machine that can tell the difference between philosophical sentences/statements and other thi...

You said this on the private thread:- Yes, I take your point. Really, I do. I don't know how to open up a discussion about this without seeming to tri...

Test. Political discussion so often turns into Punch and Judy. There are several reasons for that. But it is often not helpful but actually harmful. R...

OK. I don't feel entirely comfortable about private threads. It's just that I've picked up references and deduced that some people take their discussi...

These questions don't help me much. What is Nature? What does "actually" mean in the phrase "actually indeterminate"? Where there is no fact of the ma...

My problem is that I don't understand exactly what cognitive relativism is - the usual problem with an "-ism". I woud like to know what the alternativ...

Yes. But I'm open to argument. I think this is a situation in which silence should not be taken as consent. However, presumed consent might be better ...

I have no objection to the public space. But it seems that this is no longer really a public space. Yes, it's helping me in the same way. It's rare to...

You may well be right. I couldn't possibly tell. How is all this relevant for defining philosophy? How is this the relevant to philosophy in any way?

I agree with that. Whether I'm asleep or not is not the issue. It I did have ideas about why you are saying what you are saying, it is reasonable to c...

The only problem we have with picking philosophical statements out of their textual environment is that we don't agree what philosophy is. The machine...

Sorry. Let me put it a different way. Why do you think that "philosophy" isn't an English word?

I agree that refining definitions can be useful, though much depends on whether the refined definition is useful or helpful in some way, in the contex...

Well, that may be so. I wouldn't want to comment on what linguistics does any more than I want to comment on what mathematics does. But if you are cla...

I wish you luck with your project. But I can't help feeling that that your project would be more relevant if the most important requirement was that t...

My understanding of a definition is that it explains the use of a word or term. As it happens, that roughly corresponds to what the dictionaries say, ...

Thanks for the reminder. But I think that "charity levy" is self-contradictory. A levy for charitable purposes is possible, but the justification for ...

I'm not very interested in this possibility, but in this one:- "Suppose we don't have a crystal ball. Should we prioritize one over the other?" Since ...

But Wittgenstein doesn't argue that we can't identify similarities. He just argues that we do not need to identify a single similarity as the basis fo...

I agree that the meaning of "morally valuable" is unclear. But I also think that Jonas Salk was a morally better person than Hitler. But I also think ...

I agree that we would not want to call that practice paying for goods. What else we might say might depend on further information. For example, are go...

Very interesting. But it ain't going to happen, so how is it relevant? That's a very interesting point. Singer wants to generalize the obligation to h...

We have been pushing the boundaries for a long time. I'm finding the thread via the list of "mentions". I think they are trying to persuade us to move...

OK. I didn't grasp the significance of J6 until later. I'm sorry I upset you. It wasn't in any way intended as baiting, or even provocation. Thanks fo...

You are both rushing ahead far too quickly. We'll get into trouble if we get too far ahead of ourselves. I'm not at all sure the biological is what W ...

That's better. It does not blame the patient and makes more modest claims. However, I would distinguish sharply between "spirituality" and mental heal...

I agree you need people trained the right way before encouraging them to heed the motto. But given the number of academics who seem remarkably unenlig...

I'm sorry. I was careless. I'm would not dream of contesting the point that the way we reproduce, biologically and culturally (because reproduction ha...

I can see you are serious. But I have no idea what you are talking about.

I'm not going to argue the rights and wrongs of all of that. I don't know enough. But I don't believe that Trump's hands are clean, either. Even if Tr...

Yes, metaphors (and analogies) have to be interpreted and are all too easily misinterpreted. When it comes to family relations, for example. There are...

I think so. Perhaps a read-through of that might be worth while - but let's do the Blue Book first. Yes. Existing practices and forms of life are a st...

Well, yes. I was thinking that the same is true for mathematics; but mathematics is set up to exist in that "context". The "metaphysics" that I've see...

I don't disagree with you. I would go further. There is a difference between agree what the criteria are to be, e.g. on what the defining example on 1...

Yes. I believe that this issue has been much discussed in relation to Wittgenstein, though I believe it is normally framed as the difference between a...

It depends what you mean by "private". Dodgson's dialogue between Achilles and the tortoise makes a good point, but I'm not sure that your point is th...

That may well be true. Most people choose the news that suits them.

That's odd. Many people think that trying to organize people is like trying to organize ferrets - very difficult and any organization you do achieve r...

I agree. But I would like a better mutual understanding before we move on. I don't know for sure about you, but my comments were intended to provoke a...

Yes, Meaning is as ill-defined as metaphysics. It's usually easier not to mention it. It is ironical that his most Presidential act has been not to st...

I wouldn't disagree with that. But, having thought about it, I want to emphasize the multifarious uses of language, many, but not all, of which involv...

That's a good recommendation. One should be sensitive to differences as well as similarities. I think you'll find common elements, but also incommensu...

I agree. Concepts do not exist independently of language in some separate platonic reality, in which concepts exist passively waiting to have a label ...

That's very likely true. A comparative - and dispassionate - study would be very interesting. But it also seems to me that we might also find that cer...

I'll settle for that. It's a very marginal point, anyway. Both this argument and the one about evidence are actually aimed at the same point. Once you...

No, that's obviously true. I suppose there are questions about what's going on. But you could also say that you don't need language to communicate. An...

There's no harm in pushing a metaphor as far as it will go. But it is to be expected that it will break down sooner or later. I didn't quite follow th...