Richard B

Well, is determinism theoretically possible? If we want to be fair, we should not assume either is the established Truth. But this answer to the quest...

From Augustine’s Confessions where he gives an account of how he had ‘learnt to speak’: “I noticed that people would name some object and then turn to...

Do babies enter the Mindscape,? Infants? Children? Adolescents? Adults? A certain IQ level? Cultural background? How would anyone teach a language to ...

We first learn of ideas and how to think not by introspection, but by our fellow human beings, learning a rich intellectual tradition handed down from...

Does this make any sense? Another way to look at it, if all ideas and thoughts did not exists in the "Mindscape"; would humans be able to think about ...

I do not think it makes sense to use the word “seeing” when we talk about “when we sleep”. This is done by analyzing the grammar of “dreaming” and “sl...

Yeah, even so, this does not make sense. Imagine a child wakes up from a deep sleep and says to their parent, “I just saw a pink elephant in my room.”...

This must be quite a skill. If I find you sleeping and held a stick in front of your face you would able to see it. I bet you are peeking.

One historical mistake certain philosophies have made is this search for certainty instead minimizing error for a purpose.

I am not sure. Let us look at two quotes that may support this view, and two quotes that may not support this view. Not Support; 1. From PI 241, "So y...

Not is some general philosophical sense. Only that there is agreement in a language game and form of life. This is agreement in judgment and action. T...

I like to avoid the metaphysical views of knowledge and go with a more pragmatic one. Humans have knowledge when they demonstrate the application. For...

One of the foremost Wittgenstein's scholars would disagree with this assessment. Norman Malcolm, in Nothing is Hidden, listed 15 positions in the Trac...

Maybe, they will come up with some fancy existential word like “Other” rather than “external.” At this point, just plug the fly bottle and throw it aw...

Not word games, this is how we learn and understand the meaning of the word “dream”

When we sleep our eyes are closed, we do not see things while we sleep. So we hear, maybe, especially if we are a light sleepers, any noise might wake...

Not “sense data”. What is the distinction between metaphysics and scientific explanations. Let’s start with the following definition of metaphysics: “...

To be clear, I am not arguing the scientific description/explanation of perception but only the metaphysical explanation. From your passage it is not ...

This is incorrect. Wittgenstein is saying that this picture of naming something private drops out as inconsequential in terms of how we understand wha...

I have attempted to show indirect realism: 1) Is incoherent based on this idea of "directly perceiving sense data" because it was shown to be a gramma...

Sure, for me to perceive the tree, I need light. For me to perceive the tree, I need to have my eyes open. And this is suppose to turn me into indirec...

Son: Dad Dad: Yes, son Son: Do I have sense data? Dad: Sure, let me show you. Look at that tree. Now, press you eye like this and you will see two tre...

I think later Wittgenstein resist being labeled an Idealist or Realist, or anything in-between. May be difficult to argue this sufficiently in a posti...

Indirect vs direct

I would say Wittgenstein would take neither side of debate.

The homunculus surfaces again. At least they can take comfort that they can perceive directly.

I believe this distinction is based on perception not knowledge. The direct realist perceives the tree. The indirect realist perceives the sense data ...

Let me repeat, this is an absurdity derived from a grammatical fiction. What is the fiction? Directly perceived sense data.

Generally, trying to think how these phases are used in everyday circumstances. In my example, using "The tree has three branches", there was no perce...

Interestingly, Alvin Plantinga takes this idea to show how evolutionary ideas undermine naturalism. That evolution is only selecting for survival abil...

I think you are saying not only "the scientist perceives an event in their laboratory" as an inference, but "the laboratory" itself can only ever be a...

Teacher: "Student I have shown you many examples of what a branch looks like on a tree. Student: "Yes, you have." Teacher: "Please go outside to the c...

"I perceive the tree" does not commit anyone to the realist position, or for that matter any other metaphysical position. Also, neither does saying "I...

Hume has a nice quote from Enquiry "It is a question of fact, whether the perceptions of the senses be produced by external objects, resembling them: ...

Indirect Realism is incoherent. The use of the word "indirect" commits us to this idea that there is no resemblance between our "idea/sense data of a ...

This sounds just like John Searle’s Chinese Room thought experiment to show computers have syntax but not semantics. In this case, Y is just “moving” ...

I heard a funny story told by Alvin Plantinga, a well know philosopher of religion. One day he visited a surgeon who proclaimed that he was convinced ...

Maybe they could re-title the article to “One Logic, Or Many, Or Just talking about something else”

Good point, I just think philosophy tends to start real well rooted in what we all experience, but goes off the deep end when they loose site of the w...

I have always was puzzled why Bertrand Russel in "Problem of Philosophy" had this expectation that the must be "the height", "the color", or "the shap...

Depending on circumstance on how one uses "I see a tree" and "I know I see a tree" these don't mean the same thing. Furthermore, this starts us down t...

I appreciate and admire John Searle's ability to critique philosophical theories, and I often find I am in agreement with is final positions. However,...

I do agree that a healthy dose of skepticism in life is extreme valuable, unfortunately, Descartes takes it too far where I would label it radical ske...

If you are interested, and find it strange when someone might not admit that they see in their dreams, I recommend you read a book called "Dreaming" b...

This is a problem for two reason: 1. In principle, this claim cannot be verified since it is inaccessible. 2. The indirect realist likes to claim that...

The moment of "great disaster" is when Descartes decided to retreat to the private world of introspection to look for certainty at the expense of the ...

Let's say I designed some glasses which duplicate an object, so when I put them on I see two objects, I take them off and I see one object. So metaphy...

You ask other minds, look at the evidence, and see what is persuasive. In this case, this is done in a public realm, not the private realm of "sense d...

I like to keep challenging this idea of "sense data" derived from the Argument of Illusion. I believe one needs to to assume first that our vertical e...

So, the argument goes that we have hallucinations which seems to be indistinguishable from the veridical experience. To be consistent, whatever we say...