aporiap

I read through the OP again to just clarify why this is an issue and it seems like the reason you focus in on monism here is essentially because of th...

They look different because their atoms are arranged differently and are bonded in different ways. I don't think relations are reducible, but I do thi...

I don't think their different arrangement should matter that much. Spatial and bonding relations, which serve as the basis for difference between obje...

I am unsure how it's just a conceptual operation. To say reality is composed of one substance means something. You assert that all objects are decompo...

I disagree with the OP. That a defense of monism has to start with the reconciliation of some ontic plurality doesn't mean reality itself necessitates...

I jumped the gun by saying they are empirically supported. But as you can see I didn't conjure them up! The more accurate thing to say is that there a...

So, something like aristotelian realism about universals? Well that would make them more than a mere insignificant mental abstraction, it's a real thi...

They're empirically supported, I didn't conjure these things up: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmother_cell . It's a set of spatially distribute...

I think my issue stems from not being able to separate 'ontological independence' from logical orthogonality. I mean to assert that concepts and inten...

You're speaking of flow state it sounds like. See wikipedia link for associated psychologists and philosophers.

Hi DfPolis -- I'm going to break my response up into parts since it's grown quite long already Thanks! Can't believe it's already over. Okay the last ...

I think it can but it isn't necessary. Eg. you can have a family forcibly take you to a therapist every week and do the CBT homework in a case where y...

Dfpolis, thank you for the excellent post! You explicitly state in the previous sentence the separation is mental. How would you categorize 'mental se...

Dems won the general election popular vote in 2016 even with the split in the voting community after bernie's loss. I don't think they'll have a probl...

This scenario really highlights a moral paradox .. On face value both deontic or utilitarians could technically come to this sort of conclusion -- on ...

Hmm, I think the way you make sense of willpower is different than me. I don't think, for example, willpower or motivation is directed at a goal. You ...

I'd say yes. The minimum you need for an intention is a decision to complete a goal. What else do you feel you'd need in order for an intention? I'd s...

I think in the depression example the person has decided or intended to get better but has not put his decision into action because he lacks the willp...

The object of an intent is a goal, and to intend to do something is to plan or decide to actively work toward that goal, at least that's my understand...

So I'm not an economist, which may devalue my opinion but I fail to see why unemployment should correlate with wages. I mean, if anything at all, you ...

I think this critique is a bit too extreme. For one free idea exchange is not limited by financial constraint - you have platforms like youtube, wikip...

Firstly, I don't think the default is blind acceptance. I think there are many believers, not just converts, who have reasoned their way into religion...

I mean does the brain-in-a-vat explanation really serve as a theory? It doesn't provide much of any explanation, the world just jumps up a level to th...

I think that's a certain image of philosophy. The majority of philosophers are known for their their philosophical systems, which serve as worldviews,...

If anything option a would be more abstract in that it takes snow to mean any frosted, fluffy white powdery substance that melts in presence of heat. ...

This. I think it's literally just what brains do. They build stable theories of the world. And it's natural for a person, when asked, to preach it. Un...

^^ Well epistemologically it's wedded to empiricism which makes it very partial toward restricting what 'is' to what can be seen and felt. There are a...

Of relevance, here are some really interesting, vividly detailed coma stories . It's really fascinating, especially the post wake-up haze.

Well I'm not sure I agree it's entirely unknowable. There are states, during life, in which you are not conscious, the most familiar being non-R.E.M. ...

I'm confused here. I thought it was well understood that science is rooted in metaphysical naturalism and epistemological empiricism. Empirical testin...

I still think nothing is just inherently a self-contradicting concept, it is the lack of anything and yet it's clearly something itself, 'it is a lack...

There is a difference between learning to philosophize, which is much broader in scope, and learning philosophy. The former can be done anywhere and i...

The very first sentence contradicts itself.

It is what it is?

I think that would be impossible, for every proposition, there is some other proposition that contradicts it.

We'd know because we can contrast our consistent statements with imagined contradictions, e.g possible statements that contradict our doctrine.

Can you give an example of what you mean? I'm unsure I understand the issue.

I think it'd be an error. He may be behaving consistently with respect to his interpretation but ultimately it's an error.

Doesn't it depend on the purpose of the text? If it's an artwork then it's fine to have contradictions on the literal meaning level, the writing expre...

I'm not sure I understand the bolded. Wouldn't consistency imply lack of contradiction. Also I think what's really important to avoid presence of mult...

I'm not sure it's indicative of understanding; maybe you can have more than one logically valid interpretations of a text but they'd all be equally pl...

This comic makes Descarte the only dualist in the entire history of philosophy

Well you should just hope there's some other background information that gives clues about the author's intended meaning. Either way this idea there i...

Right, I wasn't saying values were higher order volitions, I'm saying higher order volitions are determined by values. What makes you desire not to de...

Hmm, yea I think maybe it's because they're more in line with values. I can't really pinpoint why values hold the significance they do as opposed to s...

Or that at present there is an inconsistency and the higher order volition is generated to correct the first order desire. e.g. I value healthy living...

By self consistency I mean that one's values-beliefs and actions are not in contradiction with each other, they are logically consistent.

I think it's interesting you identify love, envy, jealousy -- i.e. emotions as higher order volitions. I would've taken higher order volition to mean ...

Thanks for the clarification. I really find it interesting he doesn't distinguish between kinds of desire. I think there's a meaningful distinction be...

I think at least in the case of CBT, what really makes it efficacious is the behavioral therapy, challenging misguided beliefs through exposure or som...