Indeed. Although a (thankfully) small number of researchers I've known have expressed a similar opinion of their statisticians, so researcher's judgem...
I'm not seeing the disparity you're drawing between those positions. One says that whether something is a fact or an opinion is a matter of the degree...
I see, so this is hinging on what we mean by 'just opinion'? I mentioned my interpretation of that phrase in my earlier posts, but my writing is not a...
Interesting post but I'm afraid I'm at a loss to understand how it relates to anything I'm saying. I'm talking about the distinction between knowing t...
I think this is largely true. I'm not an art historian so I only have my lay knowledge to go on, but I struggle to think of any art older than 50 year...
She's not getting involved in the scientific debate. She's involved in the political debate. She's making political demands and those opposed to her a...
The 'point' was you saying that people could not coherently hold a position that philosophy was really hard and yet simultaneously dismiss it as 'all ...
Firstly, that only benefits services which are purchasable. In making money individuals and companies make use of public resources which need to be re...
People can either buy from Amazon or not. It's not in the least bit hard to not buy stuff from Amazon and if everyone stopped doing so, the Bezos empi...
Well, depending on our intent, we may have any easy or a hard time of it, but if we faced difficulties they would be mostly the result of the lack of ...
No. What is your opinion about the deeper meaning in the poem 'the jabberwocky'? Don't know, I've never read it. What is your opinion about the contri...
Yes they can. One is an opinion about the modalities of the rule set and the other is an opinion about the meta data. Two different areas of knowledge...
Right... So that constitutes control and power over the structures doesn't it. That they can vote people into positions of control, based on their int...
What barriers are in the way then? Voting in an election couldn't be easier really. Standing for election is slightly harder but still no more so than...
Indeed. But that doesn't prevent them from having an informed and valid opinion about the origin or scope of those rules, that's the point. I am not w...
Your original cclaim was... ... This is clearly not true because if private citizens wanted to make such a purchase, they would simply elect someone (...
Yes, that is the exact point I'm disputing. It is possible to create a set of rules, the inclusion of each member of that set being nothing but opinio...
The categorical distinction is beside the point. I'm not denying the it is possible to classify people on the basis of their job, but your categories ...
The legislature and enforcement bodies are constituted of private citizens and in most modern cases the rule makers are elected by private citizens in...
Well, I'll just have to take your word for it. I've recently been entreated to trust experts in the field, perhaps this would be a good place to start...
So, are you suggesting that, for example, epistemology has a pre-existing set of criteria determining what constitutes the field? That it's not define...
The amphiboly is the point. Simply declaring a subject matter does not confer a field of expertise, its just a name. Actual competition of theories de...
Yes, but if one of these hypothetical chess experts claims that his expertise on bishops extends to, say, real bishops, we aren't obliged to simply ta...
You're thinking too simplistically in terms of buying influence with direct payments. This is only a tiny fraction of the mean by which money can buy ...
This is not a dissonating position to hold. Advanced chess is too hard and heady for many, but those expert at it do not "know" anything more about "a...
What would "questioning" constitute? I think there's plenty of "questioning" going on, open any newspapers, even the right wing rags, and you'll not r...
People transform the land simply by taking part in the ecosystem. Your logic here would give indigenous tribes the rights to all the land outside of E...
I don't doubt there are limits (to doubt that would lead to idealism), but I doubt we could ever describe those limits, we can only refer to them tang...
That's really all it is. It seems to have got blown up into a debate about the qualities of academics in social sciences and philosophy and I don't qu...
I think that's very well said. What I was trying (but I think ultimately failing) to come up with was a way of separating out a category of discussion...
Firstly, I don't see what's elitist about wanting to have a section where matters are taken a bit more seriously. We have already split off 'the loung...
Yes, probably. I'm not lamenting the entire existence of banal one-liners, I'm just explaining how some of them in certain contexts seem out of place ...
Yeah, I'd thought about doing one on Ramsey's 'Truth and Probability' (seemed pertinent to some of the discussion we'd recently had), but the problem ...
Yeah, you're probably right, you've more experience with this community than I have. Having the good fortune to be (semi-)retired I've a bit more free...
Two things. Firstly, I'm not talking about making anything 'only' about academic papers, I was only suggesting a category dedicated to it. Secondly, I...
I don't mean to be overly pessimistic here (it's a known character flaw), but doesn't the second sentence rather just indicate that there's simply no ...
Not quite what I had in mind, not so much requests for help with papers, or guidance with reading. I was more thinking about grouping those threads wh...
I get what you're both saying. I don't know if my comment came across the way I intended it, but I didn't necessarily mean we should ban a load of peo...
As I said, I'm only speculating in the absence of any evidence to the contrary. If you're happy with Massimo's given reasons then I stand corrected. I...
I'm hesitant to speculate about another's motives, but as I don't suppose the professor will have any interest in divulging his reasons (nor should he...
What 'rights of others' does this work need to avoid the infringement of? I ask because if one of those rights is the right to property, then your arg...
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