Just saw yours as I was posting mine. Gotta run now but will think it over. I want some way for Kripke to be on target here but it seems problematic ....
This is helpful, thanks. But even if the domain is fixed to include only those worlds in which "that cloud" exists . . . must I (the "baptizer") neces...
OK. I want to try out some thoughts about this, but first I want to clarify something about demonstratives. A proper name, according to Kripke, is a r...
I remember this, and I believe there was at least one experiment that provided possible evidence: An experimenter awakened a subject by (doing somethi...
Yes, that would draw the arrow of causation from physical to mental, with an interesting twist: As may happen in waking life, I came up with a rationa...
There is certainly a possibility that a scientific investigation would show which comes first, the REM event (dream) or the physical event (leg-kickin...
Right, this connects with @"Christoffer"'s idea, above, that the dream and the physical event may mutually stimulate each other. Does anyone know whet...
I like this. So, just to play it out, would that mean that, in waking life, we can acknowledge both "mental-to-physical" and "physical-to-mental" stim...
Thanks. Yes, I see the difference. Not sure how seeing a difference in possible outcomes means that I would any choice about what to do. But perhaps t...
The problem here is that the hard determinist would deny that you genuinely have an option. They would reply, "Certainly it seems as if you are making...
Yes, I guess that's another possibility -- dream and body may switch roles, mutually reinforcing the experience. At one point the bodily sensation inf...
I'm fine with this, as long as we understand that this terminological clarification has only sharpened the questions; it's not an answer in itself. We...
I like the bead illustration as a guide to intension/extension. Interestingly, we could number a set of objects extensionally without knowing what the...
Agreed. But don't we also have to agree that this is not necessarily true? Otherwise, where do we draw a conceptual line between what is necessary and...
This really gets to the heart of Quine's problem with modal logic. Going back a bit from the passage you quoted, Quine explains: The favoritism he has...
Could you say more about this? How do we know that there is no relationship between mind and body other than a correlation? There seems to be some pre...
I'm getting a lot out of the thread too, and I'm especially glad to see you pointing at the exchange between me and @"Count Timothy von Icarus". I thi...
"In fact, before I develop this any further, let me ask whether you think (2) is a fair elaboration of what you meant by "If it is not possible, then ...
As naming a convention, sure. Not otherwise. In fact, that 'A' has been designated at various frequencies over the centuries. Kind of like the "standa...
I think I see where you're going with this. A sound engineer could say (quite correctly), "Well, we hear a range of frequencies between A430 and A450 ...
Yes! But . . . no! For me, a good example of how inadequate our current concepts are for thinking about these questions. A microbe "cares"? Absurd! we...
Interesting. I'm tempted to respond, "Well, if 'a frequency passing into a designated range' is not a standard understanding of what pitch is . . . th...
Nice. As you may know, this question of how we retain previous moments as we listen, and project future moments, is integral to a composer's skill. Ca...
I'm fine, then, with adopting the other usage I suggested: But I think you're questioning whether even the most sophisticated software can "hear the p...
But see above. The pitch changed. There is nothing called "pitch" that can move yet be self-identical. Unless we're OK with saying, e.g., "The logic o...
Actually, no! :grin: But I recognize why calculus would be relevant here. Thinking about it, I realize I may have been wrong in saying that pitches ar...
This fits nicely with what I was saying to @"Banno". Terminology again . . . we do hear a series of tones, we just can't recognize them. A software pr...
No, I'm familiar with how slide guitar works, and counterintuitive as it seems, when you slide from the D to the E, you really are producing a series ...
That may well be right. I was alluding to that possibility when I speculated that "an account of brain development that will explain the emergence of ...
Some further thoughts . . . I don't think he's formulating it radically enough. Yes, this is part of the hard problem, but even more basic is the ques...
I understand what you're saying, and of course "movement" is used to refer to all sorts of things that aren't physical entities. In speaking about mus...
Then yes, with this as the final chapter, I agree with what you say about Alex's redemption. Here's the interesting story about that chapter's history...
I've got the original British edition, which evidently organizes the chapters differently (and includes a final section omitted from most U.S. edition...
Well, the whole thing is a fantasy. Kind of a "what if?" story. But the novel helps us think about other forms of conditioning that are all too real. ...
Very thought-provoking, and I want more time to reflect on your ideas. But just quickly: This is a major reason why I suspect it will turn out that on...
Yes. But even if the chip is only put to a "good" use, Burgess' novel asks, "What have we done to a human being if we remove the choice to be good -- ...
An interesting example of the continuity problem occurs with sounds, as can be easily seen with music. We describe a melody as "moving from start to f...
Comments