Richard B

1. Simply, if the scientist showed that it is physically impossible to have a functional BIV, BIV is not possible. This demonstration might be carried...

Another interesting perspective regarding BIV is psychological. There is a disorder that is called “Thought insertion.” Wikipedia defines it as such, ...

I disagree. When one demonstrates that BIV is physically impossible, scenarios 3 or 4 were never a logical possibility. What was conceptualize from ac...

Many are willing to accept the scientific evidence of what the brain does to kick start the thought experiment that we could be BIVs. But as soon as y...

I think Norman Malcolm in "Turning to Stone" helps clarify what is being discuss here. He says: "Wittgenstein's argument has established that there is...

Is the unseen scientist fabricating you to think that this is plausible, or the unseen scientist fabricating me to say it is not plausible to fabricat...

Nicely put, but I would have to disagree here. If a physicist says it is physically impossible for something to travel faster than the speed of light,...

I will not address the Boltzmann brain (as there is another thread for that) but go with the current scientific theory that human brains are a product...

And what are those reasons?

This is not what Wittgenstein is saying. “Ouch” is an expression of pain, not naming the behaviors that commonly associated with pain. If my arm is st...

I am curious, do you all believe that a "BiV" is possible? If so, why do you believe it is possible? Just because you can imagine it?

Let's try these examples of occupying the same space: 1. Consider Matryoshka dolls. This is a good example of each smaller doll occupying the same spa...

Thank Descartes for telling us it is all a dream but don't worry God would not want to fool us. The Age of Enlightenment at its best.

Maybe, but then philosophy flirts with the risk of being viewed as irrelevant, a joke, a psychological disorder, a fictitious narrative, a new religio...

This is what we call an imagination producing a fiction. For example, I can enjoy a novel of fiction where the author has a rich history of some made ...

I would disagree with this assertion. In order for one to understand what is a dream, hallucination, illusion, or simulation, one must contrast this w...

Consider On Certainty(OC) 504, "Whether I know something depends on whether the evidence backs me up or contracts me. For to say one knows one has pai...

What it means is human beings collectively will call the green standard sample "green", and current scientific technology will measure the light refle...

1. The color of an object is determined by which wavelengths of light it reflects. For example, plants appear green because they contain the pigment c...

Well, we always have Monty Python if an ounce of levity is needed.

1. Scientists are not naming the color green "550 nm." Scientists are characterizing the color green with the property of 550 nm based on the latest s...

We have devices that detect colors on a variety objects that will agree with human judgement. These devices are not detecting color in the minds of hu...

I like to suggest a different view on "What is Truth." Instead of appealing to Platonic Essences, psychologism, or analytical formulations, I like to ...

They lose their sense in terms of talking about private sensations like they are public objects. For example, “I correctly recognize my past sensation...

The Beetle in the Box is not to put forward a philosophical theory or to show support for indirect realism theory but to show that the model of “objec...

I think Wittgenstein would say that recognizing a private sensation does not assist in using a word appropriately. Think of PI 265, the train time-tab...

Agreed, feelings are not concepts, but if you want to talk about feelings to your fellow human being there is a lot of set up that needs to take place...

As Wittgenstein pointed out in PI 258, there is a problem talking about the accuracy of private sensations, he says towards the end, “But in the prese...

What could “accurately” mean in such a case of private experiences/sensations. One, no one, in principle, can verify the truth of such an assertion, s...

I think this idea is confused based on the very idea on how we learn the language of color and language is general. Please consider this example: For ...

To reiterate what Wittgenstein says in PI 305, "But you surely cannot deny that, for example, in remembering, an inner process takes place." What give...

Long live theorizing, may you find some pragmatic benefit.

As human being, we have many primitive reactions that serve us well, like thirst, hunger, pain to name a few. But would we say that an infant has the ...

Do not agree. Public meaning makes private meaning incomprehensible. We learn what “red” is by being expose to red objects and judging similarly. What...

I finally have had a chance to read this book. Thanks for mentioning it. I have not seen many sophisticated attempts that try to argue against later W...

Well that depends.Take A&~A is false. How so? There is a symbol A and there is a symbol ~A thus it is true. Or substitute for A “I am in pain”, in the...

I find it strange to say a basic belief is “I have two hands”. Not only is absurd to say “I doubt I have two hands”, but also “I believe I have two ha...

But we justify orange juice is sweet by our taste? You seem to be inconsistent here. In my example, I am not speaking in front of skeptical philosophe...

So is this not ?

So what is a “statement of knowledge”? Can you provide an example? If you can’t, what distinction can one be making between “ a conviction” and “a sta...

OK, a distinction is being made here, a “conviction” vs “a statement of knowledge”? Declaring “I have two hands” falls under the category of “convicti...

I believe Anselm is trying to distinguish between two different ideas, "understanding that something exists in reality" and "experiencing that somethi...

Without assuming some underlying logic behind the language used by Anselm, what could Anslem be showing us with this argument, and why is it so unsati...

There is a sort of intellectual laziness that is pervasive in philosophy. It goes something like this, I can imagine I am being deceive by my senses t...

How have (or could) you establish “my private experience of apple is different to yours”?

We will have “begging the question” again if you define “evidence” as only counting as how they appear to us when seen.

Sounds like you are begging the question now.

To be consistent, the indirect realist cannot say “rock”. The only meaning this term could mean by this theory is “some object” or “something”. Which ...

Well, if I ask you what is causing your headache, and you tell me “Everything”. This answer does not have much value or any value at all other than ma...

This quote highlights the problem with indirect realism. First, specific terms the community of language users all understand is used like “rocks” and...