Relativist

Can properties (e.g. position, momentum, spin, charge, mass...) exist independently of objects that have them (i.e. is a property a particular, or is ...

See: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/historical-highlights-of-the-irs#:~:text=From%201868%20until%201913%2C%2090,of%20Internal%20Revenue%20was%20created.

Thanks for the link to Bishop's review. Bishop's most salient point is that physicalism is inconstent with libertarian free will (LFW) because of Jaeg...

Fair summary. You believe agency and physicalism are mutually exclusive. I don't agree. Here's a high level explanation of why I think it's possible: ...

But the mind's operation is functionally identical- it is no less autonomous. It's grounded in physics - but the decision process is the same. Earlier...

The boulder can take only a single path, given the physical characteristics of itself and the mountain. Suppose your mind is immaterial, (at least par...

There ARE options. See my above reply to Gnomon (the bold part).

We are frequently surprised because we aren't omniscient, not because there are indeteministic things occurring in the world. Intent does not entail a...

Agency denotes the capacity for intentional acts. Making choices is just what it says: choosing actions. Avalanches and hurricanes do not make choices...

Compatibilists believe in a sort of free will that is consistent with determinism, therefore there is always only one possible way a decision process ...

You did have a choice. And you made one. I'm saying that the choice you made could not have differed. That's because something precipitated the choice...

I googled the definition, and that's what appeared. My intent was to get you to explain what you meant, not to argue semantics. You failed to make the...

You've merely quoted a definition and implied this somehow fits what occurred without explaining how. The trial was clearly authorized and conducted a...

Here's a definition of "Kangaroo court": an unofficial court held by a group of people in order to try someone regarded, especially without good evide...

You don't understand the legal technicalities, so you have no rational basis to judge this a "kangaroo court". So your judgement seems to be based on ...

Sure, but every choice was preceded by some sequence of one or more thoughts. Given that sequence, the resulting choice will follow.

The choice is not an illusion: we are actually making the choice - we have to actually go through the mental process to reach that choice. The illusio...

The only true randomness in the world is quantum indeterminacy. It's possible there is some small degree of quantum indeterminacy involved, but I'm aw...

My impression is that you are libertarian and pro-democracy. Is that correct?

That's not what I said. I said there "is an illusion of freedom". I'm a compatibilist, and deny the PAP (Principle of Alternative Possibilities) - IOW...

Here's my opinion. Decision-making is a mental process, but mental processing is fundamentally a physical process of the central nervous system. Under...

Are you assuming reductive materialism is false? Otherwise, I don't see how you get any freedom from physical laws. There is only an illusion of freed...

Sounds like you're confirming that you don't understand the law he was charged with. Your points were red herrings because you were implying no actual...

That's true only because of quantum indeterminacy. So, instead of strict determinism from big bang to present, there's numerous instance of probabilis...

My guess is that you're not familiar with the technical details of the law that Trump was convicted of breaking, and are substituting some distorted v...

Red herrings. You're listing activities that aren't inherently illegal, but are merely immoral. The problem was that in committing these immoral acts,...

Your confirmation bias may be coloring your perception. Are you predicting he'll space out and wander off in the debate? If he doesn't, will you assum...

Someone who's already convinced Biden is a doddering old fool, will see that in the clip - that's what we call confirmation bias. Biden suffers from s...

I think Biden's proposed corporate tax hikes are too high - they would damage the economy. They also won't happen- even if Dems unanamously supported ...

So - you support the government intervening to help ailing business sectors. You consider taxes to be "theft". So do you propose eliminating all the "...

I can give you my narrow perspective, as a 70-year-old retiree of a big oil company. Salaries were based on "classification level" (CL) irrespective o...

Yes. The payment to Stormy was made before the election, and it was made to kill the story (interfering with the election). The payment amounted to a ...

Reducing tax revenue does not result in decreased government spending- it actually increases it, by increasing national debt and the interest paid to ...

Only a goblet? This inspires my choice of meal: a vertical of 10 vintages of Domaine Romanee Conti, to wash down some thin slices of comte cheese.

That's not what I'm saying. You omitted the part in bold when you quoted me. We indeed reason, weighing alternatives; we can convince and be convinced...

Fate implies intent- that past, present, and future events were planned (e.g. by the "fates", "the gods"). Determinism entails the unplanned, but inev...

Is it? I've long thought so, but now I'm not so sure. Sure, the charged crime is minor, but the actions behind the crimes are not. Trump conspired wit...

If war crimes are justifiable, then what's the point of labelling any actions "war crimes"? Is there an implicit "except as a last resort" attached to...

You've previously said you don't care if your hero breaks the law or does anything immoral, so I knew you wouldn't care about the law. Of course, this...

I agree it was a chickenshit case, in that it entailed a low level felony that rarely results in prison time, and that it probably leads some to consi...

In answer the question in bold: through voir dire. Statistics are not a valid basis for requiring a change of venue: https://casetext.com/case/people-...

Actually, it was Trump who upgraded his 34 misdemeanors to 34 felonies, by committing these offenses with the intent of committing additional crimes.

First of all, the chance of Trump spending even a day in prison is zero. But if we assume it occurs, I'm not sure it makes much difference. It won't c...

It must be true because a lot of people (all Republicans) are saying it. And they'd better! Former two-term Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, whose decision ...

I will feel encouraged only if he loses the election. Right now, this looks like a nation where only about 50% of the population respects the rule of ...

It's possible that men are naturally polyamorous while women are naturally monogamous. Silverback gorillas, traditional Mormons, and lions display thi...

I think so. Great analogy. (And your quote was hilarious!)

Cool way of describing it!

I found this diagram from Tse's book helpful in understanding criterial causation (which entails mental causation): https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/...

Yes, he's laying out the problem at that point, and then proposes a solution in Chapter 3: The impossibility of self-causation has been at the root of...