Echarmion

Sure, but the economy is still very reliant on cheap and dense sources of energy. There are also various raw materials that get rarer. And we are stil...

It's a "the boy who cried wolf" effect. After the club of Rome's initial warnings turned out premature, everyone seems to be going with the assumption...

And the universe is not a phenomenon? Logic itself? How does it do that? I don't say that though.

I am not sure what is unclear about my position, but anyways "in principle" means based on the attributes of the theoretical object. A ship beyond the...

No, but there is a difference between things that have not (yet) been observed and things that are unobservable in principle.

Sure, but there is still an extremely large amount of configuration. You have to consider that the amount of configurations is multiplicative for ever...

Well physics describes observable reality. I use it in a narrow sense here, a metaphysical infinity is theoretically possible.

This is possible mathematically. Physically, there can never be an infinity of anything, because observing an infinity is impossible (as it takes an i...

I have two points to raise: One, features, be they facial features or "character traits" can be summarized into categories like "green eyes" and "lazy...

I think that it is evident that empirical reality, even if constructed, is not unrelated to objective reality. But the word reflection carries a conno...

I would put it like this: Kantian moral philosophy is concerned with the consequences a given maxim would have if implemented as a general law. It is ...

Since the parties are shying away from even a second referendum for fear of being branded enemies of the people in the next election, I'd say that ana...

According to Kant, the morality of an action is based on the maxim behind that action. Also according to Kant, if you intend an end, you also intend t...

Americans seem to sometimes exhibit a particular psychosis concerning government involvement, but the APA is not a government agency. So I wonder what...

This seems like a general indictment of conservatism to an extend. I don't disagree with you, but might a conservative not say that keeping things slo...

This of course assumes that gender neutrality policies are executed in such a manner as to not turn into distorting constraints themselves. The argume...

Well we cannot know any specifics because, as you say, we cannot leave our own perspective. Since we are affected by things that are not out selves, t...

Sure, theories also include predictions for future observations, that is the point of making them after all. But that prediction is based on accountin...

Do we explain phenomena in terms of "unobserved" aspects of reality? The way I see it, all scientific theories do is account for observations. Our the...

We can debate on whether knowledge in and if itself can ever do harm. This is why I was talking about consequences in general. It is possible that we ...

This thread really is a treasure trove for absurd responses. Yes my usage of your term proves your point. Well done. More equivocation. I am arguing w...

I always felt this was a false dilemma, or at least the wrong name for the actual dilemma. Acts are about consequences. An act is designed to bring ab...

Neither Mercury nor the purported "Vulcan" are noumena though. As I said, Mercury is a collection of phenomena, as are all physical objects. There are...

According to you. I don't see much unquestioning obedience to the idea that science must always progress. There is no shortage of media that warns of ...

But would not resisting that outside influence be the epitome of freedom, proving that you are indeed not just a means to an end, but an actor with fr...

That objection makes no sense to me. In what way is calling the dot "Vulcan" insetad of "Mercury" wrong? The world of the phenomena is a collection of...

I have significant issues with the equivocation of our relationship with science with the relationship a person living in 12th century Europe had with...

Phenomena are our observations and experience of things outside of our awareness of self. As such, we have "access" to them by experiencing them. The ...

But the officer's self sacrifice, by the terms of the dilemma, accomplishes nothing. Sacrificing a life for no gain seems contrary to preservation of ...

The argument for noumena is that there must be something that creates the phenomena. That is, our minds are affected by something outside of themselve...

Well Kant was a philosopher, not a scientist in the strict sense. Noumena are a metaphysical concept.

I think we need to differentiate freedom in a legal sense, that is freedom from duress, full control of faculties etc, from metaphysical freedom of wi...

But you did say you don't think it's the same person so far as the individual is concerned. But I don't see why I would not consider a copy "me" as we...

I would say it is moral, since the act would follow the maxim that, if an act can either save one life or none, one should save the one life. That it'...

And this is a problem, why?

Several options are possible. They might be hardwired into our minds. They might form during early infancy, before conscious experience is possible.

I am beginning to think I shot myself in the foot by making the Star Trek references so overt :wink:. The implications of this debate for something li...

No disagreement here. I should have said "no beginning or end". It has no spatial or temporal border. If existence is based on observation, then the l...

We agree that it has no end, for the reaons stated.

But that means that you have a rule that says "promises turn the act that is promised into a moral state of affairs". I think it's a sensible rule, I ...

Yes, that is what philosophy is about. But what are we arguing about, exactly? Existence, as constructed by us through observations, or objective real...

It also does not mean that it is infinite though. The only logical position is agnosticism. To call it an illusion presupposes that you know existence...

But only the promise is part of the state of affairs. Neither the act which is being promised, nor a rule linking the one to the other are something t...

That is true. The problem is it doesn't follow that existence is infinite, becasue that is similarly impossible. An infinite existence would require i...

Arguably, what you consider your self is down to opinion. Nevertheless, it should be possible, given your personal opinions of what "self" is, to iden...

What is an "origin"? Things originating from other things is a human concept. Only things within existence can originate, because, as you correctly st...

Can you elaborate on this notion of promises as moral fact? In itself, a promise is communication about my intent. How does it turn into a sort of fac...

I have made no such claim. I have never even used the term "scientific understanding" and I do not know what - precisely - it's supposed to mean. Look...

These are a lot of words to say "I think you're wrong". It would help if you explained to me what exactly I get wrong about hypotheses and agnosticism...

This is true, but science, as in empirical science, is not supposed to explain the origin of the world. That's the realm of metaphysics, of interpreti...