Terrapin Station

Do they occur external to our thinking? If so, why wouldn't we be talking about a fact?

Sure. And what are values?

The question is about the status of flaws in a film--wasn't that what I was asking you about? It's not a fact that there are flaws in a film, and it's...

And so the alternatives would be? Here's a common definition of "invent," by the way: "create or design (something that has not existed before); be th...

What would you say the alternatives are to humans inventing languages and agreeing with each other on how to use them?

<shrug> :roll:

What would you say it is that's different from facts or opinions/preferences?

I wouldn't understand how you're using the term "rule," in the vein of my comments above re how I use that term. I agree that a rule isn't merely the ...

First, we were talking about word usage. But we could talk about morality instead. The moral sense of "it's right" is that it's how you feel about int...

By your standard it's what's right in what sense? If you're just saying that it's what you prefer, then why should I do what you prefer?

I think that's ridiculous though. Just because some people want to do things whatever way, have whatever preferences, why the hell am I expected to ac...

I thought that was the distinction the TC was making, because he contrasted it with "knowing things one step at a time."

I tell them neither things/statuses nor a lack of the same are correlated to happiness . . . which means that there's no more reason to discourage the...

For people who aren't happy overall, I'd want them to realize that it's a matter of attitude/disposition/perspective rather than an issue of having an...

Well, it doesn't follow a particular standard, but why is it wrong to not follow that standard? A lot of people are going to read "wrong" with connota...

What happens? My brain starts smoking Seriously, though, I can't even listen to two people talking at the same time. That really does make my brain st...

Actually, the way you phrased it was this: "If not pre-determined, then are the only choices that are possible are the ones we are aware of?" The answ...

Yes, concepts are "of themselves." They're tools we create, out of necessity, really, because it's too difficult to deal with the world as a set of un...

I never disagree with someone just to disagree or because I don't want to agree. I'd be happy to agree, but you'd need to say something I agree with. ...

Start with this. Do you believe that what you're referring to are flaws factually? Or are you just saying that they're flaws in your later opinion, gi...

I was explaining with respect to analytic philosophy.

If I don't believe that word usage can be wrong, then obviously I'd not say that that is wrong. Word usage can be unusual, unconventional, etc., but i...

People say that they were wrong about their previous music tastes all the time. Do you believe that there are really factually correct/incorrect asses...

Concepts are abstractions. They don't exist externally. There are external particulars that serve as influences or bases for concepts, but concepts ar...

I didn't say anything like that. I don't even believe that word usage can be wrong.

The problem is that I'm not trying to be disagreeable, so I wouldn't know how to not be that way if that's the way I'm coming across. I'd have to post...

I thought we did walk through this, though: People can evaluate anything as good or bad, where that's akin to yaying or booing the thing in question. ...

So the point here is precisely this: you believe that what's going on is something other than those social relations. I want to get at just what is go...

Say that it's true that the Mississippi River is 2,320 miles long. That implies that it's false that the Missippi River is less than 1,000 miles long....

Where did you get that idea from? I'm pretty sure no philosopher has ever suggested that the criterion for something being real is that one can prove ...

Errands got postponed a bit, so I can answer this now. What I want to stick with for a minute is meaning on your view (although I suppose that necessa...

Re the post above this, I need to take more time with it, so I'll answer it when I get back from the running around I need to do. Re this one, I was j...

It's just up to you. If you want to ignore the issue, cool. I pointed it out to you, but you can just ignore it if you like. I don't know why you'd no...

With rules, the consequence is a specific punitive action taken by other persons. I should also add with some consistency of punitive action, by vario...

I'm trying to figure out just what we're claiming in terms of "medium-size dry goods"--that is in terms of what's literally going on, from a practical...

The idea is that you'd have to do that in order for the stance/argument to hold water and be consistent, tenable, coherent, etc. It's up to you whethe...

So you'd have to define suffering and explain which negative/undesired states of body/mind count as suffering and which do not.

Wouldn't you say that booing is a type of suffering?

Good and bad are evaluations that people make that are akin to yaying or booing. So it's simply a matter of someone booing the absence of potential pe...

I mean a specific, concrete or practical, non-metaphorical consequence. The consequence is a specific punitive action taken by other persons. I have n...

So are we saying that "in order to get what one wants from others, one must do such and such"?

The problem with that, of course, is that nothing is good or bad outside of an individual evaluating something that way, and really, there is nothing ...

For one, you're probably using "rule" different than I'd use it. I wouldn't use "rule" for something that's not both explicit in some manner and that ...

Okay, so how does what the group of people do, re their agreed-upon definition, their usage, etc. become the meaning contra what Frank might do later?

Isn't he just saying that he considers definitions, grammar stipulations, etc.rules? Those are written in dictionaries, grammar texts, etc.

In other words, is that equivalent to what you're saying?

Are we saying something different than, "The people who agree to think of x in y way will probably not change their mind just because one person does ...

So once a definition is set forth, it can't be changed, at least not by just one person. How does that work?

Re the post in question, it was asking, and I was answering, whether there even is such a thing as will and whether it's our will. That bit wasn't abo...

I don't actually agree with that. The present is the changes/motions that are happening in a particular reference frame, as opposed to the changes/mot...