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These are two somewhat different objections, I think. To the first, we can't call the ascription of a property "ridiculous" but also accept the OP's t...
August 27, 2025 at 16:42
We are indeed having a difficult time, but our quick successes with various aspects of the Easy Problem lead me to be optimistic. It's like nibbling a...
August 27, 2025 at 12:56
Yes. I know you probably don't care for that conclusion, but I think it's exactly what happens. There are indeed different construals and attempts at ...
August 26, 2025 at 23:01
Yes, you and @"litewave" both crossed posts with me. But I still have questions, above, about the identification of property with set, for litewave to...
August 26, 2025 at 22:56
Well, yes, but nonetheless physicists get on with the work, even given this conceptual unclarity -- and progress is made. Couldn't the same thing appl...
August 26, 2025 at 22:47
I beg to differ. You're talking about interpretation, not about what (non-theoretical) physicists actually do. One of my friends is a physicist, and d...
August 26, 2025 at 22:38
Yes. So what, if anything, would we want to say about identifying such a set with some property? I take it you don't want "being in set X" to count as...
August 26, 2025 at 22:34
I think this replies, with a cross-post, to part of my question, thanks.
August 26, 2025 at 22:07
Would that mean that "being in that collection of objects " is a shared property? Can an object "wander in," so to speak, and partake of that property...
August 26, 2025 at 22:05
Good OP! This -- and the earlier queries of @"Count Timothy von Icarus" and @"Hanover" -- is where my attention is drawn as well. The extension, let's...
August 26, 2025 at 21:57
This is an interesting observation; I think it's both true and not. A scientist doing science is not going to worry about whether an atom of hydrogen ...
August 26, 2025 at 13:03
This is good, and relates back to a discussion on Descartes I was having with @"Ludwig V" a while back, based on Bernard Williams' book about D. There...
August 25, 2025 at 21:59
Exactly, and I find that unsatisfactory. Even if the m's and p's are correlated, it doesn't necessarily mean that "p1 causes p2" is a good explanation...
August 25, 2025 at 21:34
Good, the Nietzsche passage is right on target, thanks. Appreciate your response. What you describe would be the OP I want to write, but I need more b...
August 25, 2025 at 20:13
Thanks for this clarification. (And yes, Owen Flanagan coined "New Mysterians" as a deliberate reference to the 60s band "? and the Mysterians".) If w...
August 25, 2025 at 12:59
Thanks, I'll check it out. I'd settle for even an article, even a chapter, about mental-to-mental causation. Isn't it bizarre that the subject doesn't...
August 25, 2025 at 12:51
Yes, I thought about referencing poor Mary! (Or is she poor? :wink:) Yes, at the moment. But I think you're suggesting that the blind spot is methodol...
August 25, 2025 at 12:45
Can't remember. I took a quick look through the book but couldn't find anything. Not to say it isn't there -- the book has an unusual set-up -- a long...
August 24, 2025 at 16:24
This is me speculating about his position. He may not think this at all. Yes. Do you know Galen Strawson's book, Consciousness and Its Place in Nature...
August 24, 2025 at 14:57
This is a great graphic, thanks. Yes, yet another aspect of the impossibility -- not only do we have our experiences, but we have our attitudes toward...
August 24, 2025 at 14:18
I'm fine with the "one story" aspect -- an explanation that allows for other explanations isn't complete. But we have to be careful with "components."...
August 24, 2025 at 14:05
No, I think we both grasp the point, but are coming at it from different analyses. The "eye" metaphor arose from your quote, "The eye cannot see itsel...
August 24, 2025 at 13:17
Thanks, we always have to remember that animals belong within our circle of identification and compassion. I have a friend who's coined the term "The ...
August 24, 2025 at 12:52
Take a look at this video, especially starting at 3:40. Chalmers explains what the hard problem is. "What is the relationship" doesn't really get it -...
August 23, 2025 at 13:14
A deep question, certainly. I would say no. You say, "All explanations are given in causal terms," but you're thinking of a type of common physical/sc...
August 22, 2025 at 13:12
He's giving a description of what he means by consciousness, not a definition of the hard problem. It is, in fact, a pretty good description of what s...
August 22, 2025 at 12:56
No, that's not the hard problem. Chalmers says: This is a different problem from "What is it like to be conscious?" The latter problem is associated w...
August 22, 2025 at 01:05
Like you (and I think @"Pierre-Normand"), I don't believe consciousness or mind can be reduced to the physical. But I'd like to see a clearer discussi...
August 21, 2025 at 13:28
I'll leave that to you and @"Wayfarer", but my 2 cents is that Wayfarer is saying something a bit different. Your general point, however, is that "min...
August 18, 2025 at 20:15
Yes. Again, I have issues with those particular terms but that's irrelevant to the point you're making, which I think is extremely important. I'd like...
August 17, 2025 at 00:48
As usual, there's a lot to unpack in Rodl, but I've generally found it worthwhile. Let me start with a simple question (and I don't want to take us to...
August 16, 2025 at 23:15
Works for me. What would be interesting, then, would be to investigate the ways in which the elements of the theory are different from its objects. If...
August 16, 2025 at 16:19
Thanks for taking the time to parse my rather terse "which direction" question! I could try to say it again, better, but your takeaway is pretty much ...
August 16, 2025 at 15:15
Reading your response, I think I might not have been clear. I was saying that, if we talk about numbers as "real", we likely don't mean "as opposed to...
August 15, 2025 at 22:50
Well, yes, that works for many, perhaps most, contexts, as I was discussing with @"Janus" and @"AmadeusD", above. But would you import it into a consi...
August 15, 2025 at 13:52
Some further reflections on keeping truth and justification separate. . . When we say, “The world pushes back,” what are we describing? What if we cha...
August 15, 2025 at 13:39
Glad you agree. And this is the result we want. You make a strong case, which also has the advantage of replicating very closely what we actually do w...
August 14, 2025 at 22:55
Clearly I need to improve my social group! :wink: It's been a long time since I've been part of a debate about "what is reality" that didn't involve g...
August 14, 2025 at 21:54
Good. So what we want to know is, does the coupling of the methodologies for determining what is true and what is genuinely justified result in a vici...
August 14, 2025 at 21:44
I admire the clarity of this position -- many thanks. As you no doubt know, there is a question about JTB concerning whether "true" and "(genuinely) j...
August 14, 2025 at 21:00
What follows is an excellent summary of the epistemological story, and how it has changed over time. You really do have the gift of concision. And . ....
August 14, 2025 at 13:07
This exchange gives us a good view of the issue, I think. (And thanks for hosting the discussion, and being so willing to hear how it strikes others.)...
August 13, 2025 at 12:43
I was picking up @"Wayfarer"'s term -
August 12, 2025 at 15:41
That's right, and the philosophical structure that results from this is intricate and, for me, often persuasive. My beef, if I have one, is with termi...
August 12, 2025 at 13:58
Good stuff. I'm going offline for a couple of days but I'll pick this back up soon.
August 09, 2025 at 23:16
Interesting response, thanks. Here's a possible way to approach the problem: Is "real" more like a name, or more like a description? Compare "donkey"....
August 09, 2025 at 12:56
Thanks, I needed that! (something to smile about)
August 08, 2025 at 22:54
Well, that's right, technical terms are kind of a drag to use, especially when they don't originate in English. The Continental stream you point to is...
August 08, 2025 at 22:48
Yes. I'm not implying that this is some easy task that philosophers have inexplicably shirked! It certainly is. I'm not sure how much "univocal" cover...
August 08, 2025 at 19:18
The advantage of dropping words like "real" and "exist" is that it would allow us to replace them with more precise terms that might avoid equivocatio...
August 08, 2025 at 17:00