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Metaphysician Undercover

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Is it possible for you to be not perceiving the world while you are still alive? Would this be when you are asleep? But don't things still wake you up...
November 21, 2023 at 01:12
The cave allegory is explicitly presented as a metaphor, that's why it's known as an "allegory". Plato does not conclude that all we see is shadows, h...
November 21, 2023 at 00:49
In: Free Will  — view comment
There is no need for a list of contributing factors to demonstrate free will. The fact that not one of the multitude of contributing factors can be sa...
November 20, 2023 at 23:00
In: Free Will  — view comment
Of course, I don't think anyone would disagree with this, so it doesn't need to be argued. But I don't think it's relevant to the question of free wil...
November 20, 2023 at 22:44
The point though is that ordinary language misleads us when we discuss the nature of reality, therefore the philosopher must be very wary about this. ...
November 20, 2023 at 13:09
In: Free Will  — view comment
Like I explained, that does not imply that the past determines the decision. There must be a first time for everything. Have you never heard of a proc...
November 20, 2023 at 12:32
I suggest you read Plato more closely. The "Form of the Good" is unknowable, even to the philosopher. So what Plato talks about is "the good", and the...
November 20, 2023 at 02:41
In: Free Will  — view comment
There's no logic to support that conclusion. The decisions are made concerning the future, and they are made at the present. The present is prior in t...
November 20, 2023 at 01:39
In: Free Will  — view comment
It does not remove "us" from the will. As I explained, it inverts the relation so that "us" is attributed to the will rather than "will" being attribu...
November 19, 2023 at 13:09
If the person acts on it, it must be a "real" good, because it caused the person to act. Whether it is later judged as being a mistaken act is irrelev...
November 19, 2023 at 12:19
In: Free Will  — view comment
The problems described here arise from a misrepresentation of the nature of time. We would require a better representation of freedom in relation to p...
November 18, 2023 at 13:11
In: Free Will  — view comment
You are just asking for a contradiction. You want to say "the decisions are mine", as if you are determining them, so that you can say "this contradic...
November 18, 2023 at 13:06
In: Free Will  — view comment
I agree, compatibilists are generally people who do not want to think out the problems, so they insist there is no problem. You are characterizing "th...
November 18, 2023 at 12:21
Plato placed emotion as the intermediary between contrary forces, the body and the mind. Sometimes emotion takes direction from the mind, like when th...
November 18, 2023 at 12:10
In: Free Will  — view comment
No one expects that the will is free in an absolute way. That is not how we use 'free", and it seems like a sort of ridiculous idea. That's what I was...
November 18, 2023 at 02:08
Ayer's problem (which is common to most modern philosophers) is that he approaches the distinction between the real good and the apparent good from th...
November 18, 2023 at 01:57
In: Free Will  — view comment
The will without the body was your proposition. Do you accept it or not?
November 18, 2023 at 01:36
That seemed to be the objection you were raising, that Berkeley's and Locke's arguments removed the need for potential, as matter. I explained, the ex...
November 18, 2023 at 01:18
In: Free Will  — view comment
Wouldn't it be absolutely free, without any boundaries or limitations whatsoever? But that's just my guess, I really don't know what you're talking ab...
November 18, 2023 at 01:06
In: Free Will  — view comment
What?
November 17, 2023 at 00:51
You might try increasing the dosage. You cannot dismiss all that you see while you're on acid as not real, because you must see some real things or el...
November 17, 2023 at 00:45
In: Free Will  — view comment
Sure, if you have free will, you might answer as you please.
November 16, 2023 at 12:46
In: Free Will  — view comment
Notice though, that the only way you make the correct prediction possible is by restricting the possible choices of the agent. The more you restrict t...
November 16, 2023 at 12:45
Not only that, but the meaning of "evidence" to some here has been so narrowed down by empirical principles, that it could only mean something which a...
November 16, 2023 at 12:33
In: Free Will  — view comment
That's right, the example is nonsense, because it has not been proven that the perfect prediction of an individual's actions which is described by the...
November 16, 2023 at 12:15
MDR has no provision for "truth-conditions". And that's what it solves, the need to define truth conditions.
November 16, 2023 at 03:01
You are not at all paying attention to the difference between capacity, or potential, and a disposition, which I explained. They are opposing terms in...
November 16, 2023 at 02:53
I think you misrepresent Hawking's intentions sime. In "The Grand Design" he presents himself as having an adequate understanding of philosophical pro...
November 14, 2023 at 12:49
Materialism is the root of avarice. The value of money is based in material goods. Spiritual values are often seen to be inconsistent with material va...
November 14, 2023 at 12:32
That's what I disagreed with, that math is regarded by philosophers as the ultimate paradigm, "the standard" for knowledge. Perhaps Descartes characte...
November 14, 2023 at 12:07
But the question is, how does this relate to "Reality". How does the fact that you and I agree that the answer to 2+2 is 4 say anything about reality....
November 13, 2023 at 21:56
Well, the fourth part of the "conceptual map" seems to be at odds with the first three. 1. Recognizing the reality of societal collapse. 2. Letting go...
November 13, 2023 at 13:03
What justifies putting math in a different category? If math is just a different way of using language, how does it possibly obtain this status of "ob...
November 13, 2023 at 12:36
This is what they say: "On this website, we use the terms societal collapse or breakdown to describe the ending of our modern ways of sustaining human...
November 13, 2023 at 03:45
The reality of "metaphysical entities" beyond physical actions is necessitated by logic. That is, sound logic demonstrates the reality of "metaphysica...
November 13, 2023 at 03:25
That's the point I was making. When we properly look at the issue, the question of "directness or indirectness" becomes incidental and insignificant. ...
November 13, 2023 at 03:01
OK, now do you agree that a person must have the capacity to walk across the room prior to actually walking across the room? And, this is not the capa...
November 13, 2023 at 02:56
The two or not quite analogous. Perception is a capacity, as you say, the perceiver is "capable of exercising that capacity". So it is a special type ...
November 12, 2023 at 13:20
It is the natural outcome of relativity theory, when relativity theory is taken to be true. Relativity is a very useful category of theories which all...
November 11, 2023 at 13:00
Don't forget his Russian comrades.
November 11, 2023 at 12:44
I didn't say that. I said that the perceiver (in general) is the medium between the perception and the perceived. No, I would not say that. The nervou...
November 11, 2023 at 12:39
Your question is made irrelevant by the conditions I described. The two described conditions are things perceived, and the perceptions. The perceiver ...
November 11, 2023 at 02:42
I've read a lot of metaphysics, and I've never seen magic in the repertoire. Maybe an example would help. Such a "magical" explanation would not be me...
November 11, 2023 at 02:26
Generally speaking, the nervous system.
November 11, 2023 at 01:24
That accurately sums up this thread. I would say that it is going nowhere, slowly. If philosophers would respect the fact that there is always a mediu...
November 10, 2023 at 12:44
It's sort of ironic that after stipulating the relativity of simultaneity, Einstein would become a staunch realist. If he was not being outright contr...
November 10, 2023 at 11:49
You seem confused. I agree that metaphysics looks to explain what hasn't yet been explained, but magic is not the hallmark of metaphysics. Magic doesn...
November 09, 2023 at 20:56
I did not restrict the options of gods to the logical, because I was not talking about the options of gods. I was talking about the type of knowledge ...
November 09, 2023 at 12:19
When something so relied upon goes down, it can create panic, and chaos may follow. But I think it really depends on how the service is interrupted. W...
November 09, 2023 at 02:56
I don't call myself a "metaphysician" for nothing. I think I have a lot of experience with the metaphysical.
November 08, 2023 at 22:33