Ludwig V

But then, how can the relationship "next to" be between between the ship and the quay? It is true that we can see that the ship is next to the quay, a...

That's certainly true. The real genius of Darwin was that he managed to create or identify a purely causal, unthinking system which achieved the resul...

I see that you have decided that the relationship is between the ship and the bollard. Good choice. Now, can we agree that the relationship between Gl...

I would have thought so, too. But what do we make of Kripke? I realize encyclopedias get things wrong, but this coincides with my memory. That's true....

Fair enough.

That's good stuff. Thank you. :smile:

I don't know I would go that far. That "if" tells me that you have reservations. I suspect there will still be issues to discuss, but it might be a ch...

This won't do. Bradley had what he considered a general argument about this - as I'm sure you know. If aRb, then there must be two other relations tha...

Oh, I see. I would have expressed that by saying that the number is the same in all possible worlds, so the numeral "9" designates the same number in ...

I get the point about "the number of planets". Sorry, but I don't really get the relevance of being an abstract object to rigid designation.

Let's just share the blame.

Do you mean something like a blank space to be filled in with a number - hopefully the correct number? Or perhaps more like a question "How many plane...

Yes, but don't see how it applies in the planets case.

I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about "real" at the moment. So I hope you won't mind if I suggest that statement needs to be modified. I agree that...

I'm afraid I'm not competent to express an opinion about what you are trying to say. I don't understand it.

That's a nice and thought-provoking collection of examples. I'm afraid I don't know or can't recall exactly what the identity elimination schema. Do y...

I see. It's clearly not real issue. I would like to pursue it a bit, but I'm afraid I don't have the time and energy to think it through. But thank yo...

I'm not sure I follow you exactly. But the intention to interpret Locke's distinction as semantic seems like a good way to go. I think of it as a meth...

It's a good passage. Something to put on a wall in a frame. But I think you misunderstand my point. The "external reality" is always external, even wh...

Yes, I'm aware that it is a side-issue, and I've no intention of pursuing it. I don't have the bandwidth to do that, so, although it could be part of ...

"Physiological" is an odd term to use here. Did you mean something more like "Psychological"? But I take the point. But it seems to have turned out th...

Thanks. It was certainly important. I suppose the schoolmen must have some concept of appearance and of reality - though it is also possible that they...

Yes - aversion and reward are a key part of this. Which generates an interesting question - what would one have to provide a machine with to get a) an...

Yes. But there's a limitation. If language has its roots in, and acquires its meaning from, human practices and forn of life, LLM cannot use (or abuse...

I'm sympathetic to most of what you have been saying. But this contradiction can easily be resolved. "Superman" and "Clark Kent" are both names for th...

Perhaps I should have explained properly. You are right, of course. Neither of them claims that what we experience doesn't exist. But the PLA is often...

A good account. Thanks. I hope this is of some interest. Berkeley has the problem that afflicts many philosophers who want to deny the existence of so...

I'm very sceptical about that. But I don't know enough to argue the point properly. Nominalism was clearly part of what was going on, but something as...

I thought it might be something like that. "the reality of universals" is the litmus test for platonism.

Yes, yes, our concept of reality is our concept - who else's would it be? In the same way, our concepts of a unicorn or a swan are our concepts. Wheth...

Actually, there's a surprising amount of consensus about the "categories" of being, amongst those philosophers who have ventured into this territory. ...

OK. This is an important moment - when the arguments run out or when there is no fact of the matter that will settle the dispute. Let's suppose that w...

That's good news. I've done similar things myself. :smile:

Too true. But, perhaps, for our purposes, we could use the natural language translation. It's not a realistic project, I agree. But it gives me someth...

I agree entirely, apart from the last sentence. We agree that perception is not a passive process but involves activity (whether conscious or unconsci...

OK. This deserves to be taken seriously. It occurred to me, while I was thinking about all this, that we have under our hands an example of an attempt...

Well, I'm not opposed in principle to specialized or technical terms. I guess that since you think that there is a distinction out there, in reality, ...

For what its worth, the dictionaries seem to cite that "real" as a definition of "existent". But it seems pretty clear that "real" in most of its uses...

I thought so. Now I'm very worried. We'll see. OK. I'm not sure what difference it makes, but maybe...

I have no complaint about all this. But you have a worrying tendency to slip from "our perception of the world is mind-dependent" to "the world is min...

I am indeed thinking about standard or normal use. It's use in the context of divine revelations may be different, and I wouldn't argue about that - I...

I'm sorry I have been unable to pester you for the last few days. But I have been thinking about our discussion a lot. I hope you are willing to take ...

There's a bit of a trap here. We certainly do identify things by applying the criteria of a specific shared practice. But that does not mean that we a...

I'm sorry I annoyed you so much. There's little I can do about, except to refuse to engage in order to avoid escalating your annoyance.

Thanks.

So have I. I'm not sure why. I certainly lacked the total commitment that seems to be expected in the literature. There's a hint (which I think that t...

It depends on the bull. OK. Enlighten me.

In a sense, I already think that there is no such thing as the universe. The "universe" overlaps with "the world" and "the cosmos" and does not mean a...

The expansion of space and dark matter are indeed among the many issues that seem likely to change what we know about the universe. But there is not, ...

Yes, it is. I just spotted a rather radical typo and corrected it. (Delete "presence" and insert "absence" But it is indeed a side-issue for us.