I'd think any concept of God would be parallel -- after all, the simulators are beings with personalities and desires, so perhaps more like the God of...
None, in the sense you mean, but it would probably make a difference to us if we knew we were in a simulation. It's the same question as asking, "Are ...
We discussed Aristotle's argument from PA on the "Epistemic Stances" thread. I argued that the reasoning was faulty, and concluded by saying: "So this...
I was saying much the same thing. I don't think we even need the "post-hoc" qualification. Language can start with non-metaphysical uses, and build it...
Yes. And this encompasses the equally difficult question of whether there is only one correct reading. This becomes especially important when we exten...
It leads to implausible claims. Joe has the property of being awake at T1, and the property of being asleep at T2. These are certainly not trivial pro...
Good, I understand you better now. What I want to understand better for myself is whether this conception of causality must entail necessity and oblig...
Sure. And I don't really know how much info I'd need before some insight crystallized. One missing piece (or maybe you already said?): It sounds like ...
This is fun! But, like @"unenlightened", I require more information before I could have an intelligent opinion. This is quite often the case with so-c...
I'm glad the distinction makes sense to you as well. I may not quite be following what you say next, though. The numbers -- that is, the specific mark...
I'm not sure which is the case for you, that's true. This was a genuine question for you. There is a classical liberal response to the question of how...
“There is a reason that X . . .” is different than “I have a reason for X,” when X is some belief or action. In the first case, it’s closer to saying ...
Not grossly, though we both know there are important nuances left out. And funnily enough, I associate the position that "government imposes on indivi...
Yes, this is a good distinction. I stand by my hunch that those who firmly oppose such interpretations go further than you, and claim that they could ...
This is interesting. But it's open to the objection: How do we know that it's the language that underpins the metaphysics and the epistemology, rather...
I always try, when the person I'm responding to shows the same traits. Hmm, this may wind up mattering quite a bit, but let's not worry about it for t...
More like a second cousin, I'd say, but I understand you. :wink: Again, though, let's keep in mind whether the "such a thing as a definition" is meant...
OK. With respect, you really need to read Kripke and his critics before tackling this. The concept of a rigid designator is indispensable for understa...
That's fair. I could easily have added something about how even a stipulated or tentative definition is going to have to exhibit certain features, if ...
Of course. Some sort of absolute personal freedom to do anything whatsoever is a non-starter -- and has nothing to do with liberal political philosoph...
Welcome to philosophy! Then we're in accord. This is what I mean by "stipulating a definition for the purposes of discussion." Well, this isn't quite ...
I can just about imagine this, in the physical world, though the determinism is breathtakingly thorough. But does this principle also mean that everyt...
It would take us a while to sort out the differences in our terminology (potency, "determined by being", "moved to actuality by prior actuality," et a...
Hmm, I dunno. In the first case, it's no longer my house key, though it is still mine. And in the second, calling it "the same key" is equivocal; it i...
OK. So you're saying that, as it happens, it applies to three areas or types of phenomena. Or would "types of activity" be better? I don't want to put...
OK. Deep breath. No, I don't think your response is a deflection, as @"Count Timothy von Icarus" is suggesting. When a philosopher believes that a que...
I think you two are trying to formulate an answer to the question I keep posing: What is the LNC about? What is it a law of? What domain does it gover...
I meant to suggest something similar, when I wrote about the trustworthiness of people's intuitions. Your intuition about the job candidate is private...
The bolded sentence is what I'm asking into. Do you conceive of possible worlds as sharing an actual, existential timeline? Such that event A in world...
Good one! And in a funny way, that is what I'm asking. It seems too good to be true -- not that the key fits, but that I find myself with that particu...
No. Maintaining the distinction between self-evidence and intuition, I think that e.g. modus ponens is self-evident but not intuitive. No further act ...
OK, I'm completely confused now! Sorry it's gone amiss for you. . I guess if we had any hope of sorting this out, we'd need to start there. My own vie...
Could you say what you have in mind by something being in a different world "at the same time"? The same time as what? It's a different world, isn't i...
Consistent with recommendations I've made before, I'll say that I'm fine with either "insight" or "intuition" here -- and perhaps everywhere that "int...
Hmm. Are you familiar with Taylor's work on this, and DF Wallace's response? Fate, Time, and Language (published under Wallace's name, though really i...
This was badly phrased, and gives the impression that Rawlsian liberalism would take no stand on, for instance, matters of public safety. What Rawls i...
And my personal favorite, Habermasian social democracy, as well. It seems to come with the territory, since our states are so far from utopian. This i...
There's an aspect of the ridiculous to it, quite often: People talking past each other, banging their metaphorical tables, never appearing to notice t...
I understand what you mean, but why not do both? As I was saying over on the other thread, there's a great deal to be learned about the methods of phi...
This, interestingly, is very similar to the point I made about "metaphysics," over on the "Hotel Manager" thread, where we began discussing whether "a...
Another possible way to characterize the difference: PWS avoids fatalism because it doesn't allow semantics to determine what will be ontologically tr...
Good questions and thoughts here. Just to address one thing quickly: No, I think "absolute certainty" as a synonym for "knowledge" is way too high a b...
Yes, I was going to suggest that it would be good, at this point, to examine what we actually say about our own intuitions. You say you put stock in t...
Thanks for this reference, I wasn't aware of it. Sigh, even Mill . . . racism runs deep. Looking over the historical moments you cite, all I can do is...
Yeah, that Commodus was a severe disappointment . . . downhill ever since. Again, we're just at cross-purposes in terms of what we're referring to as ...
OK, as long as we don't equate these alleged problems with "the apocalyptic decline of Western civilization"! Of liberal political theory? Extreme che...
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