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I don’t think so. The primacy of consciousness claims that consciousness has metaphysical primacy over existence. I take the opposite point-of-view, t...

Do you mean just with humans? Or does that include your dog?

Wow, that’s pretty philosophically dense. I think I understand, but I want to reiterate that my original point was to separate the subjective from the...

I'm sorry, you have missed my point. Are we not all individual renditions of consciousness? And does not that consciousness emerge as the function of ...

But what is that rock, really? Objectively, it does not appear as you see it. In reality, it, and all of reality, outside of human perception, it is a...

I agree. We need to think about what we find out by way of empiricism. Problems arise when rationalists ignore scientific knowledge. Rationalism witho...

But that can be no more than fiction. Surely, there is a place for rationalism, but rationalism has got a worse record than empiricism, starting with ...

We have no access to it. Everything constructed in the mind of the subject is by definition subjective. We have no choice but to believe our senses.

Well, matter needs energy to exist.

Not in all cases. Sometimes we are afraid of things we don't need to be afraid of. For example - fear of the stranger often subsides once we get to kn...

But it would not be that particular music - those particular vibrations propagating those particular acoustic waves through that particular air - play...

Where do we find this perfect judge in this existence, here and now? I am reminded of a quote from Marie Curie: "Nothing in life is to be feared, it i...

Understanding that the mind/consciousness is the function of the structure (the brain) dispels any notion of Cartesian dualism. Function cannot be sep...

How about if we think of them in terms of the action/reaction they might cause? mentioned earlier in the thread - hate and love reactions are produced...

How is a state of being made evil? What is the mechanism? But if you say someone is inherently evil, you are judging them. How does the evil enter a p...

Good analogy, and I think it is fear that cranks up the psychological “immune system” – fear of the stranger, fear of the unknown, fear of loss – some...

yes, this is a better use of the terminology. I was using the word evil as a substitute for bad, but without any supernatural connotations to it, just...

Because we were talking about individuals, not humanity. My behaviors do not make me “me.” I exist in the absence of my behaviors. When I am doing not...

I didn't mention you at all. I was only trying to explain my position. When the essence is self, and the attribute is behavior, the distinction is not...

I think what he was doing was rejecting the idea of a supernatural source of evil. That evil acts don't happen because of some demonic influence. Rath...

This presents as needlessly confrontational. You are free to criticize the content of my posts, but not me. This is a good argument for separating the...

I'm distinguishing who the person is from what they do. Not arbitrary at all. It is the difference between the self and the reactions to stimuli effec...

Well, yes it will make a difference. Calling people evil, rather than their behavior, condemns the whole person - whereas "evil behavior" may be separ...

I would say that people have differences of opinions and experiences. I would call behavior evil if it is intentionally and seriously harms others, wi...

Well, that would certainly upend what we understand of the human brain's evolution. Of course, but science provides the best explanations for things b...

I'm suggesting "evil" can only be used as an adjective, not a noun. We can talk about "evil behavior" but can't talk about a spirit or power that repr...

At its most fundamental, consciousness is produced by the functioning of neurons in the brain. (Structure produces/complements function is a central i...

What if a person does not believe in "evil" and "the devil" as entities unto themselves?

Walls and trees neither hate nor love.

I really need to be more precise. I was thinking about forces used against people, not in terms of walls and trees.

Are you mocking me, sir? Let the electrochemical activity play out, and let's see what we come up with

I am sorry you did not chose to reply to me in your own words, but instead link a 21-page paper. Nevertheless, I did scan through it and couldn't find...

Me too. As a Canadian, I've made many, may trips to the USA. I love the country and its people, and it pains me to see the dysfunction they are going ...

The function of a biological structure is not “nothing” – and consciousness may be considered as the function of neural processes arising from the mat...

I'm just not sure that hate is any kind of solution to the problem. For example, I do believe that in many cases, violent criminals can be rehabilitat...

As categories of thinking, sure, they are useful, but I think it's important to separate the science from the scientist. Science as a course of study ...

That wasn't my personal experience. For nearly 40 years of marriage, every day was an adventure. Every day had romance, right up until my husband died...

I'm not sure this conclusion follows from what you wrote just before it. Yes, the time period around 40,000 - 35,000 years ago is referred to as "the ...

Only in a bad romance :) I was fortunate to find true love in my marriage. It was the most stabilizing thing I have ever known. This is a really inter...

This is true. Some may say that Trump is a demagogue, but that doesn't make him atypical. There have been lots of demagogues throughout history, and T...

I like this definition very much. I, too, think that hate involves a desire to get rid of the thing you hate. This brings up the question: Is hate eve...

Oh wow, this is fascinating. Thanks so much. And our prime directive as living organisms is to maintain homeostasis - in all of our systems. Balance i...

Of course, understanding the biological underpinnings of hate is not enough. But it’s reasonable to allow biology to inform philosophy. From that unde...

There is a place for both science and art - after all, they both have the same goal, and that is the pursuit of truth, just using different methods. E...

I suppose it is the essence I'd like to get a better understanding of Well, I guess that would require a defense of the theory of natural selection. A...

They don't exist alone, but are outcrops of the universal human mental capacity to process distressing signals. How they are processed will depend on ...

Thank you for making me look at it again. Appreciated. Yes, the word "everything" is much too broad and imprecise. I have changed the opening sentence...

I think you are introducing the notion of "neutral traits" - and they certainly exist. For example, blue eyes evolved from brown eyes, but blue eyes h...

Sounds good. Thank you for replying. Yes, thanks for pointing that out, but I did not mean to imply those two interpretations. No, evolution did not g...

I agree. I would add to that list one's self-image We evolved to "fear the stranger" - and to protect ourselves if we did not know if they were friend...