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Metaphysician Undercover

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Actually, it suggests that the "set of integers" is not an object. And, the fact that the interval between two integers can be divided indefinitely in...
November 15, 2019 at 04:02
But how can you expect to answer "what exists?" if you do not know what it means to exist? Knowing what it means to exist gives you the criteria requi...
November 15, 2019 at 03:06
If "encounterability" is a noun, then it is used to refer to a thing, or class of things. So how do you propose to use this word such that it describe...
November 14, 2019 at 11:46
Despite your assertion ("the truth of the matter is..."), that's not true at all. "Encounter" necessarily implies something encountered and something ...
November 13, 2019 at 13:01
In: Bannings  — view comment
I once thought S and TS were one and the same person.
November 13, 2019 at 02:55
No, I don't agree with "encounterability". First, because it restricts existence to the encountering capacities of the thing doing the encountering. I...
November 13, 2019 at 02:32
That is called "Platonic dialectics", where agreement on terms is not forthcoming. it might just be, that this type of philosophy is the heart and sou...
November 12, 2019 at 13:01
The problem though is that there is something "real" to these relationships which is not simply made up by a mind. The closeness of the two stones to ...
November 12, 2019 at 12:40
How can you make any claim to consistency when one day you write this: And then you follow it up with this:
November 12, 2019 at 03:24
From personal experience, it's people like you who make discussing the philosophy of religion difficult.
November 12, 2019 at 03:17
There are two distinct ways of being present. One is to be at a certain place, and the other is to be at a certain time. Therefore I suggest that ther...
November 12, 2019 at 03:13
Don't we need a definition of what it means to "exist" before we can proceed with an inquiry like this? The difficult thing is to get a definition whi...
November 12, 2019 at 03:07
Right, I have made the conclusion that there are immaterial things which are not mental constructs of human beings. I have produced the argument which...
November 10, 2019 at 12:38
That's right.
November 10, 2019 at 03:06
The "by itself" is irrelevant. You're just trying to create a distraction here. No cause works "by itself", it works on what is existing at the time. ...
November 10, 2019 at 00:13
So, in relation to the subject of this thread, is a mental construct, "the set of integers" for example, properly called "an object"? If so, then we h...
November 09, 2019 at 19:28
But this is wrong. With will power we move our bodies and this produces material things. So thinking clearly has a material effect. Thinking produces ...
November 09, 2019 at 18:57
I think that this is a misunderstanding. All living things are endowed with soul, so it is not true that the soul is the focal point of responsibility...
November 09, 2019 at 13:26
OK, I see this as an acceptable starting point. You have described two distinct categories of "things". Yes I do invert the order, and there is very g...
November 09, 2019 at 13:09
OK, now what happens if we remove the "unknown set" which is matched to the reference set, so that we can just deal with the reference set itself? Is ...
November 09, 2019 at 02:37
You agreed that there are immaterial things in human minds, called ideas. If you want to take that back, because of the rickety bridge it leads to, th...
November 08, 2019 at 23:28
What's your reasoning for this? Why can't reality be such that human concepts are immaterial things which do not exist independently of the human mind...
November 08, 2019 at 13:29
I have a very good understanding of the concept of matter. It is an Aristotelian concept. If you think that the argument fails due to a misunderstandi...
November 07, 2019 at 12:58
It's a simple deductive argument, with two premises, the first an inductive conclusion drawn from observation (material things have a cause of existen...
November 07, 2019 at 03:02
We could start with the cosmological argument, but if you're really interested, you'll have to pick up some books and read the material yourself. Actu...
November 06, 2019 at 12:01
This is the problem I have with many atheists. They act as if there is some kind of completeness to scientific knowledge which excludes the possibilit...
November 05, 2019 at 11:36
I think, that most physicians now treat psychological problems as real medical issues. They tend to believe that there are physiological conditions wh...
November 05, 2019 at 03:19
This is where we disagree. As the argument I presented shows, there is necessarily a non-material cause which is prior to material things. This cannot...
November 04, 2019 at 12:17
This is where the majority of our difference lies. I think there is no certainty in language use. Look at the way you use "justify" compared to me. Lo...
November 04, 2019 at 03:21
Do you see the word "unless"? Suppose an object is assumed to be at absolute rest. All other objects would be in motion relative to this object "unles...
November 03, 2019 at 14:25
So I'll explain to you the difference. You say that these are things are "beyond doubt", in the sense that it would be unreasonable or irrational to d...
November 03, 2019 at 14:16
Why are you stuck on material existence? No well informed, good Christian, claims that God's existence is material. But this does not mean that Christ...
November 03, 2019 at 03:21
Your example, "I like vanilla" is not beyond doubt. Perhaps it's beyond doubt to you, but it's not beyond doubt to me. So when you use that in your at...
November 02, 2019 at 13:32
Yes, quite a few it appears. You seem to have a selective form of "consensus". Are you serious? I think it is quite clear in Christian religions that ...
November 02, 2019 at 01:39
No, that's the point, time is in an uncertainty relation with frequency. Therefore neither of these can be truly "objective". If you designate an "obj...
November 02, 2019 at 01:10
So you agree then, it is possible to account for taste. This is false. Justification shows the correctness of something. I've told you this already, l...
November 02, 2019 at 00:51
The demand is for justification, and this by definition is to demonstrate the correctness of the thing being justified. If Banno claims "I like vanill...
November 01, 2019 at 11:32
But justification is justification, and "because I like it" doesn't justify anything. What purpose does "has" serve here? I really do not know what yo...
November 01, 2019 at 11:26
I don't think this is quite true. I believe that according to standard formulations of the uncertainty principle, energy and time are conjugate variab...
November 01, 2019 at 01:20
If this were true, I could justify "2+2=5" with "I like it like that". But it's not true, because "I like vanilla" does not demonstrate that it is cor...
November 01, 2019 at 00:50
To state it succinctly, modern theories of "chance", which propose that the universe originated in quantum fluctuations, are simply incoherent. Space-...
October 31, 2019 at 13:51
This is the argument Aristotle put forward thousands of years ago, concerning the existence of any object. In this case, the op, the object is called ...
October 31, 2019 at 12:57
It explains your purchase, but it does not justify it. Explaining and justifying are not the same. To explain is to make something clear by providing ...
October 31, 2019 at 11:28
"Universe" signifies the complete whole of all that exists. It's contradictory to say that the universe is in something else (multiverse), because thi...
October 31, 2019 at 01:06
This is doubtful, and that's what multiverse speculation makes evident. "Universe" is to say all is one. "Multiverse" is to say all is a multiplicity....
October 30, 2019 at 10:36
This is clearly false. If your goal is an unjustified one (a bad one), then system X as aiding in reaching this goal, is not justified. If your goal i...
October 29, 2019 at 11:15
It leaves me doubtful. Some people here at TPF claim it's impossible for me to doubt some of the things that I doubt, therefore my doubt of my doubt i...
October 28, 2019 at 10:49
An explanation is a series of assertions intended to elucidate. That's what I provided. If what I am saying still remains unintelligible to you, then ...
October 27, 2019 at 13:46
What the heck is "presence"? By the time I say "now" it's in the past. I'm afraid the presence of anything is not overwhelming. It's actually very dif...
October 27, 2019 at 12:17
There sure is.
October 27, 2019 at 02:27