“Reason” to me is a fairly ambiguous concept, and so then too is the notion of “rationality”. As one minor hint of this: The irrational argument is ye...
There's also this more recent study from 2019: Neural precursors of decisions that matter—an ERP study of deliberate and arbitrary choice. In summatio...
No, I certainly don't believe we are there either. I should say, if there is such a "there" to begin with. And I think I see what you mean to convey i...
I'm myself fully onboard with this notion: an "exponential" difference of degree. So maybe we don't have any major differences on this point after all...
Just remembered what I take to be another interesting tidbit. Gorillas might know how to use plants for medicinal purposes, though more research is re...
We are the most generalist species that we know of by far. And clearly only humans communicate via the use of words. As to other animals having a less...
I didn’t presume that you were. I did however, however mistakenly, presume that you were exploring the possibility of some type of metaphysical divide...
To first address this question, without getting into the philosophy of biology in which problematics emerge regarding how a species should be demarcat...
I greatly value the perspectives you’ve been sharing. I should maybe preface my reply with one example of what I envision by a more perfect meritocrat...
Thanks for taking the time to reply in such an in-depth manner. It’s appreciated. As to discussions regarding capitalism, I’m not intent on engaging i...
Interesting again, thanks. As background for a, maybe all too naive, question on Marxism: Speaking from a common folk understanding of capitalism, as ...
From what I recall reading in the thread, there are a few other forum members that do (that feel the principle choices between realism and idealism of...
I've always thought of it being Nirvana: the point of the eight-fold path. Karma, from this vantage, would then only be a manifestation of either gett...
No. We all have our own mindsets and beliefs and critical justifications for these. Mine just don't fit the cookie cutter alternatives presented when ...
As to entropy being the ultimate telos of all things, if we're both interpreting him right, that's more Apo's neck of the woods. While not wanting to ...
For amusement I’ll say this again in fuller terms. Speaking for myself at least, since choosing one of the three alternatives implies a rejection of t...
:smile: Want to clarify this: "Transcendent designer" entails there being a transcendent psyche ... that designs. Yes, physicalism can't incorporate t...
My own idiosyncratic inclinations aside, the issue as I see it is whether the metaphysical model of the world we endorse (e.g., physicalism) can allow...
Thanks for that perspective on conservatism. All the same, if the "humane" form of conservatism you address does intend to progress toward somewhere, ...
To keep things simple (I never mentioned "evil"), you could have mentioned this the first time around instead of replying: For what its worth, then, f...
Fair enough. For the record, to state the obvious, the bad (those who endeavor to get away with wrongs) incur plenty of suffering in life as well. Mor...
Here, I didn't mean via particular examples but as a form of determinacy that either can or cannot occur in the world. If final causes can and do occu...
In other words, good never ubiquitously prevails because there is bad in the world. Therefore, we should shun a striving for that which is good; inste...
The questions you ask seem to presuppose physicalism. To answer your questions via counterexamples: Final causes (teloi) are not deemed to be physical...
It then seems that we hold different understandings of what constitutes the metaphysical. No biggie. To me, generally speaking, the metaphysical signi...
I find things to be more complicated then this sentence presumes. The empirical sciences would be nonexistent without the philosophy of science upon w...
Yes, but in reference to your initial claim that we fear the loss of knonws (by which I initially understood: this via the presence of the unknown): T...
Interesting. Thanks for the perspective. Might I in good faith ask why? For me the known too comes in a wide variety of flavors. Some knowns are quite...
Yea, me neither. I've always thought that fear of death - for those who are so afraid - largely consists of fear of the unknown ... with death being t...
I am no psychologist, counselor, self-help wizard, or anything to the like. Wanted to however comment: Although not everyone, many – both hereabouts a...
I only skinned through the article, short though it was. To be charitable to the guy, his argument could be deemed to boil down to "there's more to us...
Kudos. Sounds in keeping with C.S. Peirce's point of view. Though something tells me you'd disagree with his pragmaticist conclusions of objective ide...
Right. Here's a more pithy question. What then is real rather than invented story? But this question has the potential to lead one down the rabbit hol...
I was addressing not so much the OP's link but the OP's quote. All the same, in reference to the OP's link, from where I stand, this assessment of you...
Curious: would you also include in this list of illusory/delusional bedtime stories the metaphysics of materialism/physicalism? I ask because the OP’s...
As an interesting tidbit in terms of Darwin’s ethics, he is well enough known for his anti-slavery/abolitionist stances. A far cry from what we often ...
I agree. Another prominent factor I find of interest is that of intentions (teloi). Life is overtly intentional, goal-oriented. Whereas non-life is ei...
I myself waver between idealist and neutral monist, but I’d vote for “the alternatives provided in the poll are too unclear to answer” - which, unfort...
I so far don't understand how any of this is relevant to the OP. The elephant in the room in this thread is vitalism (not specific variants which oddl...
From what I’ve read in the OP, life is here considered illusory on account of being emergent (in this case, from non-life). In here granting a materia...
To all the same clarify: Gregor Mendel is the guy who discovered genes by working on pea plants. He knew of Darwin's work but his is work was unknown ...
Out of curiosity, I once read though most of his "Principles of Ethics". I found it to be utilitarianism 101. A very different spiel than what we now ...
To try to clarify what I was saying: A) When contextualized by the modern field of biological evolution, the term “survive” can in a very rough way be...
I only read The Origin of Species, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, and his autobiography - this decades ago with no recollection of...
Wayfarer's recommendation reminded me of this complementary work, The Genial Gene. Read it some time ago. Found it an enjoyable read, and remember it ...
To add my two cents, though I now see some of this overlaps with some previous comments: To paraphrase a former professor of mine as I can best recall...
I'd say sure, if by "thinking thing" one would include all forms of awareness as thoughts; thereby, for example, granting that lesser lifeforms are al...
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