Relativist

I see nothing counterintuitive here. Here's my analysis... 2. Kp ? ?p Kp is knowledge that p is true. It is not knowledge of whether p is metaphysical...

Some Republicans are calling for release (or at least Congressional review) of the affidavit of probable cause that led the Judge to approve the searc...

I see. I wish we could cue up a laugh track while reading the posts.

By saying "I can't help it", is this an admission that you aren't analyzing this rationally? Because your standard of proof is inconsistent. There's g...

Wow. You set an extremely low bar for concluding a judge (plus multiple FBI agents, their management chain, the Trump appointed FBI director, and the ...

Enlarge on this, because I see no logic in it. Make 2 assumptions: 1. The documents include information relating to our nuclear capability. 2. There a...

Failure to get input from the agencies that classified it in the first place (as is normally done) makes it reckless. Do you think Trump is clairvoyan...

That's absurd. If he merely did a blanket declassification to avoid criminal liability, it was reckless.

Explain how enforcing a law constitutes "politicization". The material was classified for a reason. What reasonable rationale could Trump have for dec...

National defense. Look up the Espionage Act.

Why are you obsessing on the classification status? The 3 laws don't depend on it.

By all accounts, the DOJ was trying execute the warrant as low key as possible. This included waiting for Trump to be away. If Trump hadn't made it pu...

Neither, strictly speaking, because there will be differences (e.g. the VIN number). These identities lead to consideration of essentialism and natura...

Yes, they matter, and I chose my words carefully. The identity of indiscernibles is a metaphysical principle of strict identity, not a physics stateme...

What is interesting is the conjunction of 1) the law of identity, 2)the identity of indiscernibles, and 3)the indiscernibility of identicals. Identity...

Here's a few important ones:Russia, China, North Korea, Iran. :yikes: Sounds like an irrational leap: the US has done some bad things, therefore it on...

I was not lying, I conveyed what I'd read in good faith. I accept your correction on this point, but not all untruths are lies. By contrast, by invent...

No. Exposing atrocities is not a crime, per se. The crimes Assange is charged with are things like: espionage, conspiracy to commit espionage, theft o...

The basic reason is that it promised a heavenly reward to them for living a good life, and eternal punishment for those who oppressed them. In sociolo...

You're describing a Humean view, which is somewhat outdated. "Law realists", such as Armstrong, Sosa, and Tooley, believe there are actual laws of nat...

Clearly, the Proud Boys perceived it that way, but how do you establish Trump's intent? His post debate statement would get him off: “I don’t know who...

He was articulating Christian doctrine that everything is dependent upon God for its existence.

The word "something" has a non-specific referrent in the world: evert existent is a something. What does nothing refer to in the real world?

The question is usually asked by Theists, who have a ready explanation for the universe - but have no good explanation for why there is a God.

Of course not. "Nothing" is an abstract concept formed by mental subtraction: imagine any set, remove members one by one. What's left? nothing. To cla...

It's a loaded question: it assumes there is a reason. Why should we expect there to be a reason?

Mueller's investigation identified several instances of obstruction of Justice, with evidence that many former federal prosecutors agreed was more tha...

That's right. More precisely: x is metahysically contingent = possibly*(x) &possibly*(~x) *referring to metaphysical possibility = actual possibility,...

We started with "connections":

I honestly don't think he read my posts thoroughly. He keeps going on about use of the word "cause", when I'm talking more generally about there just ...

That's not a point I made. You omitted relevant words, and I think you know that. If you're hinting that I did the same, I need you to explain. What I...

I won't pester him again to justify his denying a "connection", but his political positioning was shattered when he admitted that circumstances were a...

I suspect they have a mental block - they refuse to see a relation between the proliferation of weapons and gun violence. It's true that mass murderer...

This is a reasonable statement, and as long as you are a responsible gun owner - I have no problem with you having firearms for self-protection. The p...

Living here in Texas, I see a lot of adults who like playing cowboy, and identify with the cowboy myths perpetuated by westerns.

NOS4A2 agreed that the circumstances were a necessary condition for the slap: had Chris Rock not been on stage, and had he not made the joke, Smith wo...

Necessary conditions to an event do not comprise a connection to that event?!?!

I'm not debating the semantics of "cause", and I said that already. You agreed that the circumstances are a necessary condition. How do you rationaliz...

You disagree with labeling it a causal factor, but that's irrelevant. There IS a connection: the circumstances are a necessary condition, as you agree...

You're basically saying you disagree with my labeling the circumstances as a causal factor. Regardless, I showed that my view is consistent with David...

Describe a scenario whereby ungrounded abstract reasoning leads to the golden rule. My position is that the relevant abstract reasoning is grounded in...

You made a good case for Smith's moral accountability, which I never disputed. You have not shown that circumstances are not part of the cause.

Sure, we can say ethics is based on ethical ideas, but it begs the question: what's the basis of the ethical ideas? Moral imperatives aren't merely ar...

Here's how David Lewis defined causal dependence: An event E causally depends on C if, and only if, (i) if C had occurred, then E would have occurred,...

#2 means the circumstances were a necessary condition for the act of hitting to take place - that means it is part of the cause. (As I've said, this h...

What makes you think there is such a thing?

If "ethical" = adhering to semantic statements of "oughts", then you're right. My point was that many animals exhibit empathy, which I propose is the ...

Sure. However: 1. The circumstances were caused. 2. Had those circumstance not occurred, Smith wouldn't have had the choice to make.

You avoided admitting that the circumstances (in which a choice is made) have been caused

Of course not. Smith made a choice in the circumstances he was in. However, those circumstances came into being by factors outside of Smith.