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Gnomon

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That may be a problem for you, but not for me. Aristotle may be outdated in Science, but in Philosophy his concise categories are still applicable. Sc...
November 17, 2022 at 00:33
My notion of "essence" (e.g. of frogginess) is based on Aristotle's definition of "substance". Biologists may think of substance as material propertie...
November 16, 2022 at 17:45
To me, the monolith represented an artifact, which would only be apparent to rational beings. Presumably, ordinary apes would treat it a useless black...
November 16, 2022 at 01:56
Even when you conscientiously try to stay on the empirical side of Consciousness -- "wish to avoid pseudo-science traps and quantum woo sophistry" -- ...
November 16, 2022 at 01:26
Coherence is an essential quality of any holistic system. Yet, the mysterious integrating "force" that binds isolated parts into a functional system h...
November 15, 2022 at 18:33
Even for voluble verbose philosophers, the concept of Holism seems to be inherently ineffable, in the sense that a complex whole system cannot be unde...
November 15, 2022 at 17:47
What about the modern concept of Holism? Since the golden age of Greece, philosophy had become somewhat moribund. And since the Enlightenment rejectio...
November 15, 2022 at 01:38
Yes. All of those mathematical concepts are related to physical reality, but not detectable by the 5 senses. The connections are logical, not material...
November 15, 2022 at 00:41
Apparently, Feynman was quoting Mermin. But it was Feyman who made the quip famous as a viral meme. Quotes are usually attributed to the popularizer, ...
November 14, 2022 at 17:35
Yes. That is generally how I see the relationship between physical structure and mental logic. But it's the steps in-between Energy and Intention that...
November 14, 2022 at 17:06
Yes. Ideally, Science is supposed to be objective and dispassionate. But scientists are human beings, whose reasoning may sometimes be used in service...
November 13, 2022 at 18:04
Yes. Some posters on this forum naively assume that they know Reality, when what they know is an imaginary construct inferred from a variety of sensor...
November 13, 2022 at 17:14
It's that binding force that I have difficulty understanding. Philosophically, I can see how energy (physical causation) could be related to human int...
November 12, 2022 at 18:36
Yes. The Nobel Laureate you mentioned might be Frank Wilczek, whose 2008 book, The Lightness of Being, introduced the notion of space as a super-condu...
November 12, 2022 at 18:14
That doesn't seem to inhibit scientists & philosophers from inventing new words to express formerly ineffable concepts. For example, C.S. Pierce coine...
November 12, 2022 at 17:37
Of course! Don't you distinguish between those categories? Physical is real & tangible, while Mental is an imaginary intangible model of Reality. One ...
November 12, 2022 at 00:53
Empirical Science studies the effable & phenomenal (physical) aspects of the world. So, it's left to Philosophy to dabble in the ineffable & mental (m...
November 11, 2022 at 19:17
Sorry. I was replying to 180proof's out of context post, which didn't link to the source of the quote. So, my response was only to what was explicit i...
November 10, 2022 at 00:57
— Banno 180wooboo quoted Banno to say that "metaphysics" is included under the heading of Physics. I'm not sure what he meant by that counterintuitive...
November 10, 2022 at 00:21
And since Quantum Science reintroduced the role of the observer into the functions of physics, the human mind can no longer be ignored as a force with...
November 09, 2022 at 17:58
I don't know where that quote came from, but it reminds me of one situation in which light energy does seem to interact (influence ; interfere) with i...
November 09, 2022 at 01:04
typically reads "supernatural" or "superstitious" whenever I use the term "metaphysical" in a non-traditional sense. Ironically his own definition (ab...
November 08, 2022 at 18:53
Yes. But that ancient dichotomy won't fly in the modern world. "Physical" is merely what we know about Nature via the mammalian senses. And, "Super-na...
November 07, 2022 at 19:36
Any use of the terms "Metaphysics" & "Beliefs" will terminate a dialog with several posters on TPF. That reaction is probably due to previous encounte...
November 07, 2022 at 00:55
I've never read Hegel, and I'm not a disciple of Marx, so I don't care what you think about their philosophy, which is usually characterized as a form...
November 06, 2022 at 01:47
I assume that by "logic" you mean a canonical form of reasoning, as defined by your preferred authority. By "logical" I meant merely any formal proces...
November 05, 2022 at 18:08
A photon is said to be "massless"*1 when it is moving at lightspeed (its definitive state). In that case, it is essentially Pure Energy, undiluted by ...
November 05, 2022 at 17:55
How did you arrive at that novel conclusion? I have entertained (inferred from E=MC^2) the above-my-paygrade-notion that Matter is essentially slowed-...
November 05, 2022 at 00:07
My post was intended to address your conditional assertion that The Dialectic is not logical*1. Says who? As presently understood, by whom? Since you ...
November 04, 2022 at 23:44
This is merely a typical philosophical failure to adequately define our terms & categories. We talk past each other, not because as laymen we are out ...
November 04, 2022 at 00:34
We seem to be using terms "Math", "Mind", and "Physical" in different senses. Equating the Chalice with the Wine. So, let's get more definitive. Of co...
November 03, 2022 at 17:07
What exists that is not of the physical world yet not supernatural? The OP questions our Ontological definition of Nature & Being : Physical (P) vs No...
November 02, 2022 at 23:15
What exists that is not of the physical world yet not supernatural Recently, I have been exploring the oft-buried & resurrected zombie notion that "em...
November 02, 2022 at 00:39
Not familiar with that technical term, I googled "ontic determinacy" and found an article on "ontic vagueness"*1. Mathematical Infinity is vague only ...
October 31, 2022 at 18:01
In his 1958 book, Physics & Philosophy, Werner Heisenberg tried to explicate -- for a general audience -- his key concept of "Quantum Uncertainty". So...
October 30, 2022 at 23:32
Your proposed model of Consciousness is way over my head. And my brain is still smoking, from scanning another extensive & elaborate internet-theory-o...
October 30, 2022 at 00:49
That is a true statement . . . . within the framework of 180's worldview of Materialism or Physicalism or Realism (or whatever he prefers to call his ...
October 28, 2022 at 00:06
This sounds like the age-old debate between Materialism and Idealism. Even Plato and Aristotle were divided on the question of primacy. However, in hi...
October 27, 2022 at 00:16
Is this a mere coincidence or a two-factor synchronicity? I just flipped through a book I read almost 15 years ago, and in the next moment clicked on ...
October 26, 2022 at 16:59
I agree that Language (Logic) and Mathematics are meta-physical functions (tools) that are necessary for the existence of the physical world. Some mat...
October 24, 2022 at 23:40
I'm not an Aristotle scholar. But, I assume you are using "necessity" in the Aristotelian sense of a lawful relationship (metaphysical connection) bet...
October 24, 2022 at 22:42
I've never read any of Hegel's writings, but somehow I came to associate his name with the notion of a historical (or natural) Dialectic summarized in...
October 24, 2022 at 00:03
Your well defined, but complex, post goes over my philosophically untrained head. But I will comment on one facet of the Causation question that I am ...
October 22, 2022 at 17:45
Does quantum physics say nothing is real? Late to the party here. I haven't read beyond the first page of posts. But I don't see where the key word ha...
October 20, 2022 at 00:08
I added the "belief" because our words are usually expressions of belief, which does not always correspond to objective reality. Hence our language ma...
October 18, 2022 at 16:54
Yes. The Galton illustration of randomness within the normal curve of statistical determination does not take into account Intentional choices. Instea...
October 18, 2022 at 16:23
I'm not dialoging with Anscombe. So, my intention was not to critique her article, but the statement you quoted from it. I was trying to dialog with B...
October 18, 2022 at 00:28
Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I was just quibbling with Anscombe's definitive statement : "determinism is impossible". That's what we do on TPF ...
October 17, 2022 at 17:13
I had never heard of Anscombe or her absolute assertion that "determinism is impossible". So, I couldn't have approached the article with antipathy --...
October 16, 2022 at 23:14
I did scan the article, but its circuitous reasoning lost me. So, I was hoping you could summarize how she arrived at the bold "assertion that determi...
October 16, 2022 at 17:39