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Echarmion

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What kind of causal chain are you envisioning here? Is this an actual post or were you just playing alt-right bingo?
October 28, 2019 at 14:59
If you're about making new experiences, having children is a pretty good example of an experience you can not get any other way.
October 28, 2019 at 10:42
If we take "the Cold War" to describe a certain geopolitical arrangement, it certainly has ended. America is, for the time being, still the only super...
October 27, 2019 at 21:27
There are quote and reply functions. Please use them so people notice when you reply to them. There is a difference between saying "no person is above...
October 27, 2019 at 20:59
One approach to the solution would be to ask why we care about whether or not we have "free will". Is it because we want our decisions to be free from...
October 27, 2019 at 18:17
No doubt Putin does not mind mounting internal divisions in the US. Whether feeding Steele lurid information in order to increase said division was pa...
October 27, 2019 at 18:08
A law is not a state of affairs. The state of affairs is that a given law is in force. But the law itself is normative. That's not what the term "rule...
October 27, 2019 at 13:50
We might also react with sorrow. Psychologically, this might not be a bad response to something we cannot individually do much about.
October 27, 2019 at 13:42
I am aware of the history of the term, but Smith never referred to market forces as an "invisible hand". Indeed Smith's usage of the term is highly qu...
October 27, 2019 at 13:40
But the key difference is that in the case of the Steele Dossier, domestic political players used information of dubious quality for domestic politica...
October 27, 2019 at 08:56
Are you being sarcastic here? There is no such thing as an "invisible hand".
October 27, 2019 at 06:27
But a russian source is not Russian influence. If an FSB agent tells me Putin's favourite meal, that's information sources from russian spies, but bas...
October 26, 2019 at 19:57
What is evidence of a demonic spirit?
October 26, 2019 at 19:16
Sure, let's start. Do you have a problem with unrestrained sex? If you're going to refuse every counterargument as demonic, what's the use talking to ...
October 26, 2019 at 15:05
It would perhaps good to discuss what this global debt actually means. After all, it's not like the planet is owning someone money. Quite the opposite...
October 26, 2019 at 14:57
Conditions have changed. The post-war boom was special in that it came with high levels of workplace solidarity and a reduction of wealth disparity. M...
October 26, 2019 at 14:28
Yes, that'd be the more basic question. Sounds awfully condescending. Perhaps it's your moral compass that's in need of adjustment? A lot has been wri...
October 26, 2019 at 13:40
How do we know the absolute truth? The unborn cannot lodge such a complaint, even in theory, though. So really it's you making the complaint, even tho...
October 26, 2019 at 12:23
What is "strict morality"? If you want to argue that someone is moving the goalposts, you have to establish what the goalposts are, first. Without agr...
October 26, 2019 at 10:18
What goalposts though? Who set up the goalposts that are allegedly being moved? It's not about "life" either. We kill lots of life all the time. No-on...
October 26, 2019 at 09:08
So If the CIA says the sky is blue, you'll conclude it's red? This is a terrible epistemological stance. Dismissing evidence is idiotic, no matter how...
October 26, 2019 at 07:11
To do that, you first need to interpret the text. And the interpretation itself will not be machine-verifiable. It's impossible to avoid though. There...
October 25, 2019 at 15:49
Any system that relies on a text written in a natural language is going to require textual interpretation. Textual interpretation is never going to be...
October 25, 2019 at 06:23
I'd still have an issue with personally adopting a moral system that is entirely outcome oriented like that though. Sure, Trump's tweets and the bible...
October 24, 2019 at 19:38
Right now? Nothing. The ship has sailed, Russia has taken up the position of the US and it's not like further involvement now does anyone any good. Th...
October 24, 2019 at 14:18
I would simply call that a form of indirect evidence for states of affairs. I base a lot of my knowledge/predictions on things people have said, becau...
October 24, 2019 at 13:38
The problem I see with this approach is that, even if we profess to care about everything, our value judgements are necessarily anthropocentric. There...
October 24, 2019 at 09:38
He didn't make a statement of fact at all. It doesn't make sense to say he was "lying". They were separate, indeed. Mike Pence negotiated a five day c...
October 24, 2019 at 06:43
You don't think that all the "hand-wringing" is the reason Trump has expended so much energy trying to get a ceasefire? The permanent ceasefire is bas...
October 24, 2019 at 04:53
By the way, it seems that substantial evidence has just been provided by the acting ambassador to Ukraine.
October 23, 2019 at 15:37
That'd be one way to go about it. The issue I have with this approach is that I think any moral imperative needs to reference a subject. If we are goi...
October 23, 2019 at 10:55
Let's take positive laws as an example in lieu of a moral system. A given body of law can represent a legal system, and in that legal system there wil...
October 22, 2019 at 17:57
Well, for one the whole notion would seem to require a consequentialist approach, since we are talking about benefit and harm, correct? It seems convi...
October 22, 2019 at 15:56
Oh snap. I am thoroughly defeated by your command of one-liners.
October 21, 2019 at 20:29
Well, but this raises the question: If the single future person really is a non-entity, because potentialities aren't people, how do we construct a no...
October 21, 2019 at 18:34
Which would explain a lot of your other views. It's not accurate in the slightest. Fair enough. Since I know it's origins, I cannot really see what it...
October 21, 2019 at 18:25
Not in and of itself, but in this case it directly supports a view of history of cyclic, where "strength" and "weakness" are the governing factors, an...
October 21, 2019 at 17:55
Which countries would those be?
October 21, 2019 at 16:44
You're aware that the picture you're sharing here is literally fascist propaganda? In the last century, that has by and large been the case.
October 21, 2019 at 12:26
I'd agree with that from the standpoint of an atheistic cosmology, but in the context of the theodicy argument, I don't think this distinction holds. ...
October 21, 2019 at 11:08
And no earthquakes, floods, genocide, brutal dictatorships etc. You seem to have left these out in your hotel description. This is an interesting take...
October 21, 2019 at 06:08
In: Brexit  — view comment
Possible, but I think the EU's political leaders probably have enough political acumen to realize that they'd be playing into Johnson's Hands if they ...
October 20, 2019 at 07:19
The issue is that "autodidactic" is not an answer to the question of "how much" education you have. Reading a single book on your own is autodidactic ...
October 19, 2019 at 06:19
It seems absurd to me to claim that, unless punishment is exactly proportional it's "entirely" arbitrary. If it's a question of reason, then the reaso...
October 18, 2019 at 11:01
To answer this, we have to first ask why we are so sure what the natural order is? Perhaps it is true that, as a matter of fact, life is unfair and ch...
October 18, 2019 at 10:31
They can. Billiard balls aren't solid particles on a quantum scale. It's just spectacularly unlikely. But, given that you are aware of the exclusion p...
October 18, 2019 at 06:30
In: Brexit  — view comment
I agree with your analysis, but has the EU actually backed down? It seems to me they would have accepted this solution earlier, but the British didn't...
October 17, 2019 at 17:45
Somehow, I find the letter almost endearing. At least it's an initiative for peace, if one that sounds like it was written by a schoolboy.
October 17, 2019 at 14:42
No, you! Yes. I doubt that even having any biological body is necessary, given that "a person" is really just a mind. Right. And why would you? After ...
October 17, 2019 at 13:08
It's a question. Given that you claim we can directly observe causation, you should be able to tell me what the actual cause is, in physical terms. It...
October 17, 2019 at 11:38