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Terrapin Station

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If it's just an issue of how someone is using words, that's fine. That's how they use words. But that doesn't tell us anything else.
November 16, 2018 at 14:17
What would count as evidence of any unconscious mental activity?
November 16, 2018 at 14:16
I think it's better to not just put everything indefinitely in limbo just because we don't love any of the choices. I've never loved anyone running fo...
November 16, 2018 at 14:12
I'm fine with that, but I don't agree with the consensus about what counts, or rather should count, as a violation. And I think that violators, once w...
November 16, 2018 at 14:06
What are my arguments with respect to what? "Everyone does anything they do for x reason(s)" (where the reason in question is mental content) is obvio...
November 16, 2018 at 13:55
The problem is simply that we're going to go off track if we try to suggest that anything is going to count as good/bad for everyone, in general.
November 16, 2018 at 13:53
Maybe it isn't, but I don't think we can know whether it is simply by sitting in a chair and thinking about it. I think that the mere possibility of i...
November 16, 2018 at 13:47
You think that it couldn't be for hardship's sake, even if they were to say that it was, to say that that's all it is. What supports the claim that it...
November 16, 2018 at 13:44
Not that I normally pay much attention to theology, but I had no idea prior to your post that anyone thought of the incarnation as being metaphysicall...
November 16, 2018 at 13:30
In that scenario, I can picture offices remaining empty for years on end, while meanwhile all sorts of economic, infrastructural, etc. disasters pile ...
November 16, 2018 at 13:25
I don't think that's universally the case, though. Claiming that it's universally the case doesn't seem to acknowledge the huge variety of ways that p...
November 16, 2018 at 13:19
No, that's wrong. Animals might believe that they're acting on a pleasure pain impulse, but that's not really what's going on subconsciously. Re "anim...
November 16, 2018 at 13:12
You could suggest that but you'd be wrong. What's really going on is only that you have a duty to suggest that. You just don't realize that that was y...
November 16, 2018 at 13:04
False, at that specific time the body thinks that it wants to collect data for the aliens. Pain and pleasure have nothing to do with it.
November 16, 2018 at 12:59
In a similar move, I could say something like, "Really, every person is motivated by a sense of duty and NOT by a pleasure/pain metric. No one really ...
November 16, 2018 at 12:57
Yeah, there is. I just gave you one example. You had to make up that, "Well, really they're motivated by hedonism, they just don't know it." I'm not f...
November 16, 2018 at 12:48
If you wanted to say something like "Many people are often motivated by consideration of a pleasure/pain metric" I don't think that it would get much ...
November 16, 2018 at 12:48
Again, the fact that there's one person who is motivated by something else on one occasion falsifies the theory. Also, "from a people who know this be...
November 16, 2018 at 12:44
Doesn't have anything to do with what I'm saying. "Every action is motivated by x" is an empirical claim, and "S was really motivated by x; S simply w...
November 16, 2018 at 12:36
Empirical claims are not provable. The fact that there's one person who is motivated by something else on one occasion falsifies the theory. The fact ...
November 16, 2018 at 12:28
Just wondering how we ended up with two of the same thread. Anyway, a different angle on this from me. Not that I agree with the categorical imperativ...
November 16, 2018 at 12:25
In this case, you're starting with the theory that you don't want to be wrong, and you're playing the game where you'll make whatever moves necessary ...
November 16, 2018 at 12:20
Because there needs to be evidence of something to posit that it occurs.
November 16, 2018 at 12:18
That amounts to "I'm going to make up an interpretation --I'll posit something 'behind the scenes' that the person isn't even aware of, and I'll insis...
November 16, 2018 at 12:15
That's not a "clarify your view for me so I can understand it better" question. It's a rhetorical question--you immediately afterward give your answer...
November 16, 2018 at 12:12
Sure. An example could be someone, say, voluntarily trimming the trees in some public park once a month, simply because they feel they have a duty to ...
November 16, 2018 at 12:03
In the context of ethics, I don't agree with him about that. I'm not sure I'd agree with him about that in any context, actually.
November 16, 2018 at 11:59
That attempt failed obviously and only told us something about your personal vocabulary. If you want me to clarify something about my view to you, tho...
November 16, 2018 at 11:55
So no concern with talking about art from a broader sociological perspective?
November 16, 2018 at 11:53
So when you're dealing with someone who you think is simply fat, or ugly, etc., and you know they're very sensitive, self-conscious, etc. about it?
November 16, 2018 at 11:51
I'd add "that particular individuals have in mind, where different individuals can value the same situations very differently."
November 16, 2018 at 11:49
As if I hadn't written "not unusually so."
November 16, 2018 at 11:46
That section couldn't be more of a non-sequitur. And calling any computer activity "intelligent" at this point is simply a manner of speaking. What ma...
November 16, 2018 at 11:42
What you should do when you encounter something like the categorical imperative is not just assume that it's correct but challenge it. Why is Kant say...
November 16, 2018 at 11:15
Any argument that has everyone being motivated by the same thing, or claiming that everyone thinks about anything the same way, is going to be wrong. ...
November 16, 2018 at 11:09
When we're talking about people reacting to music, visual works, etc. any arbitrary person could have any arbitrary response to any arbitrary work. So...
November 16, 2018 at 11:05
All mental content is physical first off. But there isn't a Holmes who is six feet tall. Someone imagines him to be six feet tall, someone has written...
November 16, 2018 at 10:56
One name isn't more "real" than another. Rather than "real," some distinctions that make sense are whether it's your legal name, whether it's your bir...
November 16, 2018 at 10:44
I'd never use "transcendent" and especially not "authentic" to describe any artwork. I don't think there's anything inferior about jingles, production...
November 15, 2018 at 23:41
And that's it. Same denotation.
November 15, 2018 at 23:35
Same denotation. Different connotation.
November 15, 2018 at 23:27
Kripke sucks, first off. No wonder you're confused. You said that proper names are direct referents. "Posty McPostface" is a proper name per the defin...
November 15, 2018 at 21:32
What makes someone "really" some name or other?
November 15, 2018 at 21:28
Just for fun, let's imagine that you're really Ned Block. In what way does "Ned Block" denote you and not just various people's interactions with you ...
November 15, 2018 at 21:25
Simply repeating that doesn't make it any less stupid. Try answering the question I asked and maybe we can help you learn something.
November 15, 2018 at 21:23
Just for fun, let's imagine that you're really Ned Block. In what way does "Ned Block" denote you and not just various people's interactions with you ...
November 15, 2018 at 21:22
Two big problems a la you just talking bs. One, "Posty McPostface" is a proper name. Here's the definition of "proper name:" "a name used for an indiv...
November 15, 2018 at 21:15
Maybe try an example, because it seems you're forwarding pure nonsense on the face of it. What's an example of a "direct referent" that wouldn't be ju...
November 15, 2018 at 21:11
What name wouldn't be "just a moniker"? That's what names are.
November 15, 2018 at 21:10
Ooh, ooh, I'll participate as Statler and Waldorf. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w9mHQfzu34M/hqdefault.jpg
November 15, 2018 at 21:06