I've thought about that, but always assumed that someone would then demand how I explain "unbounded but finite", which, I'm led to believe is also pos...
This is just one example of the way in which, when you change one feature of a language-game (conceptual structure), you often have to change the mean...
A lot depends on what you consider socialism to be, and opiniions differ on that. But the important point is that the question does not really depend ...
Ok. I must admit, I have never thought of it as a knock-down argument. Perhaps that's because I don't really believe that such things really exist. in...
I don't find a clear meaning in the question whether the world is intelligible or not. I was trying to extract some sense from it, by paying attention...
Well, yes, if I had read the whole piece, I would not have got so excited about the Wittgenstein reference. But now that I have, I don't see that ever...
Well, my first reaction is to examine the question to work out what will count as an answer. I think that's as good an answer as you are ever going to...
I think there is something to be made of the idea. For example, the table is somehow more than the sum of its parts. One might recognize this by sayin...
I thought you might be. Perhaps my response was clumsy. I must confess I didn't give a thought to your possible religious beliefs. If I offended you, ...
Your strategy is quite right. But I don't think your solution really works. It the underlying process is a process of experiencing, then isn't it firm...
I agree with you that the hard problem needs to be dissolved rather than solved. But it is also worth remembering that the intention behind the argume...
I'm not disappointed at all. Many people have beliefs of this kind that I do not share. You, in your turn, may be disappointed to learn that I have ne...
The story of the roll-out does justify a feeling that it has been imposed, rather than introduced. There's an impression that the policy is to get it ...
It might be that science is just not set up to answer questions like "what is it like". Myself, I don't think that question has an answer at all. The ...
I think the problem is that AI doesn't fit into the standard ideas about plagiarism. If plagiarism is using someone else's work without acknowledgemen...
Yes. I don't understand exactly why they felt they had to go through all those texts. My point is really that once one realizes that the AI is not a m...
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that consciousness isn't fundamental in some sense. I was just asking in what sense you think it is fundamental. Obv...
It depends what you mean by "fundamental". Clearly, consciousness is not the origin of the physical world and does not exist independently of some phy...
I heard an account from an academic that told of an AI, in response to a question, providing a factually wrong answer about Pindar; when questioned, i...
I'm really quite confused. I lazily though that that-clauses would work - after all, thinking that snow is white and the fact that snow is white are p...
I looked up the SEP - States of Affairs In section 1.1, I discovered that states of affairs are in fact expressed by gerund clauses, as in "Charlie’s ...
Is it possible that the haecceity in question is the haecceity of the possible apple? Really, there is no making sense of this. I know it is not prope...
That's the argument. What's your solution? To posit that all change takes place instantaneously between states of affairs? That's absurd. It is clear ...
So it does depend on the definition of "state of affairs". Aristotle's argument is indeed a good reason for changing that definition, to allow that st...
I thought so. Can you give me a reason for restricting the term in that way? EDIT On reflection, there is a bit more that I can say. I have no doubt t...
It all depends on how you define "state of affairs". "Description" is simply a name for specific kinds of language, mostly those that are true or fals...
You keep saying that. But I don't understand what it is that we are referring to. What's worse is that you are saying on one hand that this object mus...
I'm pretty sure that it is "In W34(¬?x(P(x)?Q(x)))". But I'm no expert. Perhaps @"Banno" will comment. I don't understand you. The table exists, and t...
That might be true, when, for example, there is only one apple around or when I mean that the apple I'm holding in my hand. But ¬?x(P(x)?Q(x)) identif...
Do you mean that the apple that might be on the table does not exist? Clearly, there is not, in this world, any apple that might be on the table. That...
Not necessarily. It is often argued that any foundationalism leads inevitably to an infinite regress - what are the foundations of the foundations? Or...
I looked this up. I see what you mean. His argument feels like a construction for a pre-determined outcome - as does his theodicy. Perhaps I'm being t...
From what I've seen, it does seem very likely that Plantinga thinks that there is a connection between his philosophy and his faith. But I'm pretty su...
I don't quite understand this. 3 and 6 appear to be identical; so do 9 and 12. So we are considering two possibilities. "It is possible that the apple...
"I might have had an apple for breakfast" (a) is puzzling when we ask which apple I might have had for breakfast, and then we wonder about the ontolog...
Well, Homer is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. So presumable "Homer" designates that person whoever he may be. The difficulty is not just tha...
It so happens that I think that many, though not necessarily all, questions about the nature of things are ill-formed, because what is meant by nature...
Well, my question is how to tell the difference between necessary and contingent. It seems that any contingent statement becomes necessary if the rele...
I don't disagree. I made the connection because I thought the analogy/similarity between fictional worlds and possible worlds made it easier to unders...
1. What you learnt about Aristotle enables you to refer to Aristotle - to use the tag. (Remember - what preserves the causal chain is people using the...
Oh, yes. I'm happy to respect the distinction. I may not always understand it. That's not quite what my analogy of the bookshelf of possible worlds pr...
There is indeed something odd. I think there are two aspects to it. The first is fairly straightforward "A owns B" asserts that A has the means to con...
I find it keeps slipping from my grasp. It wasn't that I saw an inconsistency, it was just that I didn't see how it fitted together. However, doesn't ...
Oh, very good. Concrete is the mix. That's a good idea. But I'm bothered by the facts a) that the actual world is the one in which we are constructing...
All the talk of "Aristotle" referring to Aristotle is all very well - if the metaphysical link is all that matters. We can agree that the link exists,...
A standard of clarity. Tempting, very tempting. But you quoted Austin - I think he would have take issue with you. So perhaps I can suggest that thing...
Well, you/Kripke have your reasons for saying that, I suppose. But it is clear that whatever "water" means is not based on that information. Again, pe...
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