Ludwig V

Clearly, I'm not a indirect realist, because I don't accept that we only know the actual world as representations in the mind, because, as Berkeley po...

I think I understand all that. We seem (not only in this context, but in most modern discussions of logic) to have got to a situation where what logic...

Not an unreasonable assumption. But I wanted to put owning a life into a context that made it clearer, IMO, how absurd the idea of owning one's own li...

1. The question is badly formulated. If someone owns a life, that is slavery. The idea that I might or might not own my own life is meaningless. But i...

H'm. I thought @"Banno" was only aiming to explain Kripke's system as being the one that is most widely accepted in the relevant discipline. That's on...

It seem that you and @"Banno" had incommensurable views. He was explaining Kripke's views, and I've benefited by getting a better understanding of wha...

I think that's a little sweeping. Most life on earth doesn't have a choice in the matter. That excludes choice, which excludes morality. (Incidentally...

I've only ever read "The Man Who Mistook His Wife...". At the time, I found it interesting, but didn't know what to make of it. Now, I think that ther...

I guess you are right. But I didn't think of it in those terms. It was simply an observation about the conceptual (and engineering) resources we have ...

Either would be much better. The possible worlds model seems far too elaborate to me and quite implausible as a description of what's going on. Well, ...

H'm. Did he, by any chance, suggest a better term? @"Banno" must speak for himself. But it is possible that he is not doing that. I may have misunders...

I hadn't thought of that, but it makes sense. If one element of a disjunction is true, the whole disjunct is true. Presumably, then, we can also write...

@"Banno", @"Metaphysician Undercover" An excellent discussion, trembling on the brink of an agreement. I'm biting my nails here. I'm curious. Can we a...

Yes. Questions need to be nested in a considerable web of beliefs. There's quite a lot of different things that can go wrong. The fact that there's so...

Presupposing that the question can be meaningfully asked is not the same as knowing how to answer it. Perhaps you are thinking that we can work out wh...

* The question in the first sentence presupposes that there is some way we can know how the world really is. But there isn't. Or rather, how the world...

I don't know what realist principles are. The thing is, there is a system of modal logic which, I understand works reasonably well by the relevant sta...

This is hard to decipher into my idiolect. Before the race I can access two possible worlds, the one in which I win and the one in which I don't. Afte...

So for some p, the possibility of p ends when p occurs and for other p it doesn't. Furthermore, the ending of the possibility of my winning the Kentuc...

One of the ways of seeing this is more or less what you describe. One can think of possibility as a kind of ante-chamber to existence. So all sorts of...

I wouldn't argue about that. But I don't thoroughly understand either or metaphysical. So I prefer to say that it's a question of how you look at it -...

I don't understand this. The possibility that it will rain tomorrow does not depend on whether we recognize it. Framing possibilities as possible worl...

I would be interested in that.

We certainly a conception of mind vs matter that not only distinguishes them, but shows their interdependence - co-existence in the same world. The co...

This is a real problem. I don't know the answer and perhaps there isn't one - or not just one. In this case, we should compare constellations with ano...

That's a new one to me.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by "the danger of contradiction". I'm used to contradictions existing or not - contradictions as a ris...

Take a weather map, a geological map and a road map of the same territory. They are not competitors, and they describe different aspects of the world....

Yes, quite so. Two my eyes, this debate looks like a microcosm for idealism vs realism. But with a difference, that in some sense it is for real. But ...

I agree with most of that. I can see that we need to say that the actual is possible - even if that is a bit awkward in some ways. It certainly beats ...

No doubt about that. But one needs more than that to refute the opposition, which will repeat its mantra "Give me evidence" - and of course that requi...

Why would anyone want to create an illusion of consistency? Most often, it seems to be the primary aim of philosophy to puncture illusions. I don't kn...

It seems to me that "direct" and "indirect" do not have a determinate application in the context of perception. So it's like "glass half full" and "gl...

I agree that one has to pay attention to the ways that words are used - the concepts that define the discussion. But I do not agree that laying down a...

W can write "Kp" for whatever we like. Once we have interpreted it, however, (I think that's the right word), there are consequences. "we know p", is ...

There's a misunderstanding here. Our digestion has the function of extracting nutrients from food and disposing of the waste. That is the goal or aim ...

I'm a bit surprised that you don't mention the distinction between sex and gender in this connection. It is, perhaps, only a beginning to addressing t...

This is an interesting idea. I have so many questions. But it seems better to read the book and then ask questions. It's 200 pages, so that will take ...

Yes, of course that's true. I intended to high-light the point that "penalties" might or might not overlap with consequences and that although they mi...

"intentional" in some sense, I suppose. I would prefer "purposive". It's a process of developing a functional mechanism and the process is set up by D...

The trouble is that, when we come to looking for an answer, we find it very difficult to articulate one that acquires the consensus that needs to coal...

Yes. Dual intent/purpose is certainly at work. So is manipulation of our desires. Life's quite bleak from the evolutionary point of view.

Yes, quite so.

Yes. That's why I'm very keen on enactivism.. The dominance of "internal brain processes" is the result of the "theoretical stance". Enactivism needs ...

That's a new concept for me, but it makes sense. I could give examples, but that would violate the taboo.

The odd thing is that in asking the question, one also answers it. (emoticon of scratching head in bewilderment - the classical philosophical position...

I'm trying to give up arguments of that form. I used to love them, but I've come to appreciate how important it is to understand that arguments fully ...

Thanks for this. Do I have to let anyone know if I want to attend?

That's an excellent quotation. Dictionaries are a good starting-point, but are also often not particularly helpful. The list of topics suggests that m...

Is that because they all assert that the world is very different from what it seems to be. I've always though that the simulation argument and Descart...