I was just following the accepted definition of "real", which defines real as actual. I find there is a problem with your suggestion, that possibiliti...
This is a faulty formalization, because it doesn't properly represent what is expressed by "Ralph believes there is a spy". What is expressed is Ralph...
Our subject is reality, what is real, and this is somewhat different from "exists", because "real" implies a genuine, or actual existence. So even if ...
I'm not suggesting something else, I agree that models are useful. But "useful" implies purpose. So if it is real that models are useful, then purpose...
No, the point is that you are drawing the conclusion that if they are useful, then they are "of reality". So the onus is on you, to justify this claim...
So, doesn't this fact, that being simple, and leaving out many details, makes the model more reliable,and more useful, indicate to you that being usef...
The truth of that statement depends on what you mean by "real", and what qualifies as a "model". I haven't seen any indication from you as to why you ...
Truth! .. its the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. ...
I didn't say that "nature arranges itself to conform with what occurs in our minds". What I meant is that we individuate, separate, distinguish, and d...
Because these are things which are done by minds, and all of our examples of them, are done by minds. If it happens in nature, then this is something ...
The point is that it takes a mind to distinguish one time from another time. So perhaps things "exist as they do", but it takes a mind to distinguish ...
That's correct, and the dog may give birth to numerous litters, so to single out one litter and say she gave birth to seven pups, is something which r...
Ha, where do you get the infinite regress from? You seem to have forgotten that I started my description by referring to intention, and intention prod...
Those who understand it as God ordering it to an end see it as final cause. Those who see it as the laws of nature, see it as efficient cause. There i...
But the Thomistic tradition, which is what Feser refers to, assigns this final cause to the Will of God. When something like the ball on the hill is o...
You have not demonstrated how the whole has the power to do anything. As I pointed out, it is the parts which are active, and being active they are th...
I don't see how this can work, because the essence of the particular is that it is a material object, while the essence of a universal is that it is a...
I would not say that a ball which roles down a hill is caused to do this by a final cause. The religious way of thinking might assign this activity to...
I don't buy that. Individual human beings have ideas. I don't see the basis for your assumption that the army has an idea. There may be seasoned veter...
But I don't require that intention be related to some mind, I told you this earlier, so I'm in more of a position similar to your beliefs. I associate...
We're going around in circles. These quantum states are inherently probabilistic. That's the issue here, you want to say that they are not, but it's i...
Let me reflect on this example for a moment. The army's capacity to "turn people" into "uniform components" is dependent on the willingness of the ind...
I think there is a problem with this statement. Some people would see final cause in these instances that you mention, and most of those people would ...
So you think that you can use a word to mean whatever you want it to mean, and this would be comprehensible? I think not, it is the continuity of simi...
I don't think it is necessary to assume God, and I agree that Aristotle probably didn't think this way either. What we do is assume intention, or purp...
No I'm not conceding that, this is the theological argument which introduces God as the source of telos in natural things. Aristotle did not seek the ...
In theology, the intention (Will) of God is assigned to such cases of final cause. And the intention of God is not necessarily within the object which...
There is a continuity of usage which makes any term comprehensible. In the case of "final cause", that continuity can be followed from Aristotle throu...
No, I'm offering a reasonable interpretation of "final cause", as intention, exactly as it is described by Aristotle. The contemporary narrow sense of...
We need to respect what the argument demonstrates though, that the real existence of unity, represented as "One", throws confusion into our understand...
I think that to understand the elementary particle we have to relate it to the field. But now the particle appears to be a property of the field. So i...
For sure, there could be states like frames in a movie. But this is a completely different premise, not consistent with QM, it's a completely differen...
There's one big difference between my understanding of final cause, and your understanding of final cause. Yours allows that any non-existing thing, a...
Have you seen the way that Aquinas demonstrates that Aristotelian principles are consistent with Christian theology? These instances in nature, in whi...
You're wrong here, it is true that the team's intention to win The World Series, is the very same thing as the team's goal, or end. Why would you say ...
If, when you put the word back in, the result is nonsense, then clearly the exercise has failed. Your exercise demonstrates that any non-existent thin...
The real issue here comes about when you consider the logical relationship between "whole" and "part". The part is necessarily a part of a whole. If i...
Excellent, now you're catching on, the final cause is the goal, what is intended, and that's why it doesn't matter if it's realized or not, it still i...
This is an important principle, but I prefer to express "singularity" as "unity", or in the old fashioned way, "One". There is an interesting dialecti...
Consider this example. My goal is to win the lottery, that is my intention. The means to this end is to buy tickets. It is impossible that winning the...
As I said, "end" is defined as "a thing one seeks to attain; a purpose". So the goal, or end is first in time, prior to the means That is "the end its...
I don't understand your distinction between ontology and epistemology. It's all mathematics, therefore it's all epistemology. You have arbitrarily sin...
What are you talking about? The definitions you've provided are all clearly consistent with my interpretation, and inconsistent with aletheist's. Look...
Keep at it, philosophy is great fun, useful too. If you ever can't get to sleep at night (being anxious, stressed out, or just too high), pick up some...
There is no necessary association there. It is habitual usage which has made you believe that purpose is necessarily associated with intelligent willf...
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