You are viewing the historical archive of The Philosophy Forum.
For current discussions, visit the live forum.
Go to live forum

Cuthbert

Comments

:starstruck: On form.
September 27, 2022 at 13:03
Gosh, I didn't realise it was that bad. Does that apply to all the first century folk - Tacitus, Suetonius, Dio Cassius? Hopefully things got better a...
September 27, 2022 at 11:06
True. Also, we simply do not know anything about the source of creation. I suppose there is some negative knowledge that we have. We know it didn't co...
September 27, 2022 at 10:44
That may be so. But as an answer to the problem of Jesus' saying he brings a sword and not peace - and the dog-whistle implications of that saying - i...
September 27, 2022 at 10:33
I also like to link this whenever occasion demands, which is too often. I think it is an amazing piece of writing and an inspired solution to the prob...
September 27, 2022 at 09:26
:clap: That's the spirit. I can't help thinking the world would be a happier place, if more people dealt with liturgical problems by simply announcing...
September 27, 2022 at 08:56
I am a Christian and I have heard this point made before but I cannot help thinking that it sounds terribly like a dog-whistle excuse. "I know I said ...
September 27, 2022 at 08:35
It was known as the 'cast iron plant' because it would survive the darkness and neglect of London rooming houses. It is Orwell's symbol of a strugglin...
September 27, 2022 at 08:20
I realise that. You suggested that 'be respectful' is just not enough - we need more. I pointed out that we have not achieved even the respect that yo...
September 26, 2022 at 15:51
I have not heard anyone apparently clueless or inexperienced. Almost everyone seems quite certain of their views on gender identity. Adults generally ...
September 26, 2022 at 15:24
I don't expect people to have respect for each other, let alone unconditional respect. I expect lesbians on busses to continue to be afraid for years ...
September 26, 2022 at 15:13
OK. Would it be a good start and a move in the right direction? I think so. Then, when everyone is treating everyone else with respect, we could think...
September 26, 2022 at 10:32
Fun fact: some spring-flowering trees are in flower in England. Many lost leaves early due to drought and withdrew into winter mode, so now I guess it...
September 26, 2022 at 09:33
Keep the aspidistra flying! http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200021.txt
September 26, 2022 at 07:58
"All sentences, with the sole exception of this sentence, are false." I think that sentence is false, but I'm not sure it's self-contradictory. All im...
September 24, 2022 at 18:08
I think computers play dumb just to let us think we are still in charge. They are biding their time.
September 24, 2022 at 13:59
I am immensely pleased with myself for having found a way to locate terms on the Stern-Brocot tree that an amateur (me) can understand.
September 24, 2022 at 13:55
That would make it even more realistic.
September 24, 2022 at 09:07
If they turn out to be an art collective working on their submission for the Turner prize then they won't look so uncool.
September 24, 2022 at 08:39
Good idea. I propose a discussion between AI philosohers about Searle's Chinese Room. One of the disputants could put forward the argument that AI has...
September 24, 2022 at 08:35
Truth must be readily available because everyone seems pretty satisfied with their own share of it.
September 24, 2022 at 08:26
There are no squirrels in Ireland. Oh, wait, that's snakes.
September 23, 2022 at 20:02
You are non-binary. Perhaps there do exist people who are not like you in that respect. They would be binary and not non-binary. They might be quite c...
September 23, 2022 at 20:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Oc9C3EHLo
September 22, 2022 at 15:35
What's called 'over-thinking' is generally under-thinking - sticking on a relatively irrelevant aspect of a problem and so missing the main point. I d...
September 22, 2022 at 15:02
I propose we call it Transcendental Idealism - reconciling reason and experience.
September 22, 2022 at 12:09
Not ironic. Merely skittish. It was good enough for Plato.
September 22, 2022 at 12:04
Quite often, yes, it is. "If" in conversational language does not always behave like a material implication in logic. True material implications are o...
September 22, 2022 at 09:46
I wouldn't say that's always true. As I write, my kitchen is behind me. You did not know that - but I did. That's a difference of the states of knowle...
September 21, 2022 at 11:36
Maybe so. But that makes it paradoxical that the planet would be in a better state for life if we'd left the decisions to the less intelligent creatur...
September 20, 2022 at 15:30
@"Tate" Yes, I got that. After a slow start. My answer is to ask a friend to look and check for me. The world and other people exist - it's just 'behi...
September 20, 2022 at 15:10
Alas, no, because I misread the whole thing. I thought it was about whether we can doubt that any time exists except the present. I suppose if there i...
September 20, 2022 at 12:18
I Is it possible coherently to doubt it? If it's true, all statements about the past are false. In that case, I didn't write the last sentence. I did ...
September 20, 2022 at 10:44
Ha ha ha! I expect Twain had in mind exactly what he wrote. He was that kind of writer.
September 16, 2022 at 13:29
It claims to be against dogma, but it shows itself to be as dogmatic as the rest. The author actually typed "New Theology aspires to be a universal th...
September 16, 2022 at 13:14
It's certainly worth considering that they are two different things, as you say. Another possibility is that they are the very similar things. What me...
September 16, 2022 at 13:03
True. With a little more effort but still not too much we can also find out the good effects. With yet more effort we can find out the bad and good ef...
September 16, 2022 at 09:47
Yes. We know this because when we see humans from the top of a high tower we are amazed at how small they look. If humans were actually small then we ...
September 16, 2022 at 08:18
Only to the extent that there are no black mermaids because there are no mermaids. But that's probably not what the commentator meant. There was a vie...
September 16, 2022 at 07:39
About P1. We cannot deduce the existence of a belief from the truth or falsity of a proposition. Whatever beliefs a person must hold in order to quali...
September 15, 2022 at 10:07
Isn't there a problem with the 'naturalistic fallacy'? The medical standards may be too low or otherwise in error. In that case we could say without c...
September 13, 2022 at 09:40
Don't underestimate them. Epiphanies are rare. It's mostly about paying your bills, apologising for errors, letting go of grudges. I would pull out a ...
September 13, 2022 at 08:42
The British royal family is a role model? But the words 'royal' and 'scandal' go together so well. The phrase is part of our heritage. Along with bish...
September 13, 2022 at 08:04
I agree that we may sometimes reasonably wish to die. But death does always deprive us of something. It deprives us of every chance we have and of lif...
September 12, 2022 at 08:36
It responds to the OP claim that if harms are not ante-mortem then they are post-mortem. It shows that it's a false dichotomy and that there is a thir...
September 12, 2022 at 07:23
A bit more reflection on planless John. I wonder whether his plan is to stay alive. If not killed, he will take food and water, seek necessary shelter...
September 11, 2022 at 09:00
@"Bartricks" You harmed John by depriving him of the opportunity even to be miserable and planless, just as the opportunity to take an artificially in...
September 11, 2022 at 08:10
Because I now know that I will miss it in the way described if I dispose of it. It's a harmless vice. I don't keep used syringes, love letters or anyt...
September 10, 2022 at 13:18
If they are misled, then their answers will not be so good. The better they get at clarifying and explaining, the better their answers. I get one poin...
September 10, 2022 at 13:13
Usually, I keep it. I still think about books that I did not keep. I miss some books from fifty years ago and I can still feel their heft and the scen...
September 10, 2022 at 12:49