Dusty of Sky

Agreed. And thank you as well. This has been educational for me, and I think my point of view on these topics has become more sophisticated as a resul...

I like that. It sounds very Aristotelian. Then I think we may have reached a satisfactory point of agreement. I still think that certain logical princ...

If we accept "consciousness causes collapse" but reject the many minds interpretation, then wouldn't we conclude that whatever is definitely the case ...

This is the first I've heard of Wigner's friend, but I just read that the purpose of the thought experiment is to support the theory that consciousnes...

Couldn't we say that the electron exists but no definite state of the electron exists and no definite number of photons exists? Saying no definite sta...

True, but there's reason we say i is imaginary. It's not real in the same way as other numbers are. that being said, I'd love to hear a mathematician'...

Agreed. There's no law preventing us from thinking the words square circle, but we can't form a concept corresponding to these words. We can form some...

If classical logic doesn't apply to indefinite scenarios, then this would seem to be due to a limitation of the applicability of the law of excluded m...

It seems that we are free to invent logics of many different kinds. Some may be useful and others may be invented as games. But it seems to me that pr...

It seems that disjunction in quantum logic has a different meaning than in classical logic. In classical logic, A or B means either A is true or B is ...

I read the paper's introduction, and two pieces jumped out at me: 1) "For instance, a natural question is whether relational semantics of (some) non-d...

I just refreshed my memory on the double slit experiment, and it seems practically certain that setting up a device to determine which slit the partic...

There might be certain contexts (although I can't think of any) in which it might be useful to assign certain contradictions as true. But I still thin...

I think I understand, but please tell me if I am missing something. So when the photon hits R, as long we hold to a realist interpretation, we must as...

Although we may have to modify the way we apply logic depending on what purpose we are employing it for, it seems to me that the most basic principles...

I don't think this necessarily contradicts the principle of distributivity. It seems that measuring which slit the photon goes through affects the con...

I don't see how that's possible. "The photon goes through A1 and hits R, or the photon goes through A2 and hits R" is just a less efficient way of say...

Have either of you heard of Malebranche? He believed that the external world was real. However, he also believed that all events in the external world...

What do you mean when you say we can observe kinetic energy being transferred? We can observe the first ball strike the second ball followed by the se...

This is true. Humans intuitively understand events in the world as being causal. But the fact that we intuitively understand the world to be this way ...

Then I'm sorry I didn't take your comment at face value. I guess arguing with people on the internet is making me overly defensive. No, it would not b...

Just because I believe something doesn't I'm currently arguing for it. I don't quite understand. Are you saying that I shouldn't argue based on what s...

Quine is a good suggestion. How about his book Word and Object? Also, the reason I made those claims was not to present a well formed argument. I'm ge...

"We can never demonstrate the necessity of a cause to every new existence, without shewing at the same time the impossibility there is, that anything ...

Agreed. Almost every event has a multitude of causes, some of which it's unlikely we're even aware of.

I think you need induction to determine which causal relations exist and how they occur, but the fact that all events have causes is deductive. Grunba...

I'm not denying that causation is real. But I do think it's difficult to observe it directly. Even when we participate in it by making decisions, we c...

In most of your arguments, it seems like you're trying to push the entire burden of proof onto me. I guess that's fair, since I'm the one making claim...

Maybe it was misleading of me to use the phrase from the Declaration of Independence. I wasn't trying to start a historical discussion about the inten...

Yes, we are all equal in that we're people, in that we're made of atoms, and in that we're located on the planet earth. We are equal in that (to put i...

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But what does it mean that we should be equal? Are you suggesting that we genetically engineer all humans to be equally attractive with equal IQs? Wha...

How can you prove a statement like that? I don't believe that all people are equal in any way. Is that immoral?

A universe that disobeys logic is absurd by definition. It would be circular reasoning to try to use logic to prove itself, and I don't have any other...

My main problem the idea that existence is causal power is that causal power can't be observed. So different philosophers have different approaches to...

Interesting, and good to know. But if Armstrong takes the most basic objects in the universe to be states of affairs, then I don't see how he can call...

I think choice plays a role in our more complex and uncertain beliefs. But if a belief just seems obvious to us (e.g. the world is round), how can we ...

Not directly. But there's definitely some truth in the saying that the pen has more power than the sword. The Crusades were inspired partly by Christi...

So is existence a property with the same definition as causal power? And does causal power mean the potential to cause events or actual interaction in...

Even if I am publicly advocating for violence in a compelling and charismatic way that causes people to commit terrorist attacks?

Choice definitely plays a role. But I don't think I could choose to believe that the Earth is flat. Even if I read nothing but flat earth advocacy for...

I'm not conscious of my ability to choose what I believe. I understand on some level that my beliefs are influenced by my personal biases and my upbri...

The idea that the universe can be understood is a fundamental presupposition that underlies nearly all human thought, especially scientific thought. I...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Armstrong's theory is that physical properties are universals which particulars instantiate. So even if physical ...

I will tentatively accept your summary as a fair description, although I'm slightly worried that you have an argument in store that will make me regre...

Particles in a liquid move in a different way than particles in other states of matter. They'll don't resist being rearranged the way particles in a s...

Why not? I'm sure there's more to be said. But can you find me any scientifically observed properties of liquids which can't be explained in terms of ...

I don't know enough about physics to say for sure. But from what I remember, the four states of matter are clearly defined. They don't have any myster...

Perhaps I should brush up on my physics, but I think that the liquid state of matter is fairly simple to define. It corresponds to certain pressures a...

If you mean wetness phenomenologically, then it's definitely not a physical entity. If you mean liquidity, then wetness is reducible to the composite ...