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Gnomon

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I wasn't familiar with the various theories of Perception, but the "Causal theory" seems intuitive to me. However, the "Emission Theory" seemed sensib...
March 12, 2022 at 17:57
True! That's what Hoffman is talking about in his book, The Case Against Reality. He labels "what you think is real" as a mental model of reality, not...
March 12, 2022 at 00:37
Yes. Don't treat Truth & Falsity as "antipodal", but as a continuum between those poles. As a recovering Perfectionist or Idealist, you need to accept...
March 12, 2022 at 00:06
Oh yes. Inconsistency in logic is a common glitch in human reasoning. That's why the first rule of philosophy is "don't fool yourself". One way to che...
March 11, 2022 at 19:09
In Reality, there is no such thing as "true reality". But absolute true Ideality, is another question. That's what Plato called the realm of "Forms". ...
March 11, 2022 at 01:16
Your frustration may be due, in part, to unrealistic expectations. When I was young, I learned the hard way that I was a perfectionist, who couldn't d...
March 11, 2022 at 00:54
Ah yes. As cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman postulated in his book : The Case Against Reality, all human mental models of Reality are essentially "i...
March 11, 2022 at 00:45
I don't think Plato "rejected infinity". As you noted, his concept of a realm of Forms is functionally infinite in a Potential sense. However, Aristot...
March 11, 2022 at 00:14
Of course, the shape similarity between a graphic symbol of the invasion of Ukraine, and a symbol of the invasion of Poland is an inference in the min...
March 10, 2022 at 18:29
OK. I won't argue with you about your personal opinion, or that of a particle physicist. FWIW, in my opinion is there's an important difference betwee...
March 10, 2022 at 00:44
As an untrained dilettante philosopher, I bow before your self-proclaimed Omniscience. But, I still don't appreciate your "dogmatic" (your word) True-...
March 10, 2022 at 00:25
In that sense, "Infinity" may be used in a similar manner to "Googolplex", or my tongue-in-cheek usage of "Zillions". :joke: A googolplex is the numbe...
March 09, 2022 at 23:54
Oh, I didn't mean that the crossed "Z" of a swastika (symbol of German nationalism) was literally or consciously re-shaped into a symbol of Russian na...
March 09, 2022 at 23:46
Maybe Einstein was a closet magician, pretending to be a mere scientist. He often attributed his curiosity about Nature to its inspiring "awe & wonder...
March 09, 2022 at 23:21
As usual, you missed the point of my description of what distinguishes Philosophy from Science. Some professional scientists with mucky hands, also do...
March 09, 2022 at 18:01
Yes. For the purposes of my Enformationism thesis, I typically define "metaphysics" in terms of the topics Aristotle discussed in the second volume of...
March 09, 2022 at 17:45
I don't know that Plato had much to say about "infinity" per se.. But his Forms are essentially definitions of possible or potential things. So the Fo...
March 09, 2022 at 17:33
"Whole" . . . "holistic" . . . I get it. :joke: Sure. But Positivism was mainly concerned with weeding-out Metaphysics. And most of modern Philosophy ...
March 09, 2022 at 01:53
No. Just that non-physical Mind & physical Body are philosophically distinct concepts. The latter is subject to empirical investigation, but the forme...
March 09, 2022 at 01:30
Bafflement may be frustrating, but it can also be stimulating . . . . for those with a curious mind. :joke: https://www.azquotes.com/vangogh-image-quo...
March 09, 2022 at 01:09
Reposted from the Infinity & Nonphysicalism thread When you say "there are no actual infinities" I assume you mean that we space-time humans have no s...
March 09, 2022 at 00:55
When you say "there are no actual infinities" I assume you mean that we space-time humans have no sensory experience of unboundedness. Everything in o...
March 09, 2022 at 00:45
I found that statement puzzling. But, I'm not qualified to comment on such technicalities that are way over my head. So, I Googled the first phrase ab...
March 08, 2022 at 18:40
Speaking of speculation, I'm currently reading the Kindle book by novelist Ken Follett : NEVER. It was published in 2021, so its geopolitics is quite ...
March 08, 2022 at 01:43
You may have missed the point of my later posts on this thread. Normally, I tend to ignore threads with extremist terminology, such as "unequivocal tr...
March 07, 2022 at 23:44
Yes. But that paradoxical description reminds me of the bible verse : "by their fruits ye shall know them". In the case of sub-atomic particles -- esp...
March 07, 2022 at 18:57
The use of vulgar four-letter words is considered gauche on this genteel forum. Besides, it sounds like the exasperation of defeat. But a philosophica...
March 07, 2022 at 01:51
If so, why give one of them an un-real name? I'm aware that mathematical theorists treat "Virtual" Particles as-if they are real. But the differentiat...
March 07, 2022 at 00:59
Yes. An immaterial grid-point in empty space is like the symbol "X" (unknown) which serves as a stand-in for a real number, that is un-realized until ...
March 06, 2022 at 18:55
I suppose you're indirectly asking if Reality is necessarily Material or Physical. The Non-Physical Reality thread is seeking a similar clarification ...
March 06, 2022 at 01:18
That's coming close to what I was getting at. The linked quote below indicates that a Virtual Particle is treated as-if it's "Real", but it doesn't ad...
March 06, 2022 at 01:12
In the context of this thread, is a zero-dimension point considered to be Real or Ideal, Physical or non-Physical? As a philosophical or mathematical ...
March 05, 2022 at 18:58
Your unconditional faith in an infallible entity (science + sophistry = sciphistry) is touching. But it turns a philosophical forum into a mudslinging...
March 05, 2022 at 18:20
There you go again, slandering your fellow "denizens". Is that your idea of a philosophical argument? :joke: So, you place Scientists & Philosophers i...
March 05, 2022 at 00:43
You mentioned "different levels of organization", and listed some different words that we apply to phenomena on those different levels : level A -- "n...
March 04, 2022 at 23:33
As one of the dissenting "denizens" of The Philosophy Forum, I'll reiterate my contention that empirical scientists and theoretical philosophers are i...
March 04, 2022 at 01:41
OK. Let's talk about an apple pie. There is an analytical vocabulary for describing the chemistry and physics of apples, sugar, spices & dough. But th...
March 03, 2022 at 18:21
Sorry! I thought you might agree with my non-reductive holistic perspective on the topic, I didn't realize you were talking about fruit pies. :joke: S...
March 03, 2022 at 00:57
FWIW, I meant it's impossible for reductive science. Non-reductive Systems Theory may be on the verge of an understanding of the nanoscale intermediat...
March 03, 2022 at 00:49
That's OK. We're talking about the same thing, but using different terminology. Empirical scientists have a matter-based vocabulary to discuss "neuron...
March 03, 2022 at 00:29
You've made it clear that you interpret non-empirical philosophical interests as "anti-science". But some of us on this forum don't agree with that as...
March 02, 2022 at 23:27
As I understand your point, you are drawing a distinction between a scientific model and a philosophical representation. Modern Science is methodologi...
March 02, 2022 at 18:21
Since you referred to "Causation" several times, I'll propose a causal explanation for the Brain Function we know as "Mind" or "Consciousness". Accord...
March 02, 2022 at 01:11
On this forum, you probably won't get much traction with that assertion. Since the Enlightenment era, modern Science has been identified with ideologi...
March 01, 2022 at 19:26
I'm not up to speed on modal theories. Are Realism & Idealism merely different modes of thinking, or modes of being? Aristotle seemed to view Potentia...
February 28, 2022 at 22:56
As a wrap-up review -- to this and the Non-Physical thread -- what do you think of my assessment that the opposing positions are viewed as A> Real Sci...
February 28, 2022 at 18:44
Sorry. I may have clicked on your link by mistake when I meant to link back to the OP. :yikes:
February 28, 2022 at 17:35
Well. It looks like my question has been answered . . . . in the negative. Empirical Science versus Theoretical Philosophy is non-negotiable . . . for...
February 28, 2022 at 01:08
If you are going to insist on referring to "known science", you should at least cite book, chapter & verse. Where is it written that "there are no Tho...
February 27, 2022 at 23:31
That is a pretty good summary of the authoritarian worldview called "Scientism". Technically, it's not a religion, but a dogmatic philosophical positi...
February 27, 2022 at 19:01