Andrew4Handel

I think being cast out of the Garden of Eden is the equivalent of the original sin. The basic concept though is that humans are to blame for the state...

That is not a claim I have made. We are clearly not going to agree on what constitutes good evidence.

It is not my fault that you gave a poor example to make a claim. Why can't you come up with something that we can all agree is implausible? I don't se...

I have been talking about mental states and whether they have to extend into the external world. Whether or not a mental state is accurate or an illus...

It is your problem that you were ambiguous. If you want to give an example of something absurd you probably should check that it doesn't exist. You il...

So what was your inaccurate diversion on Dragon eggs about?

That doesn't follow. Science itself is usually based on theories some of which turn out to be true. You can have an accurate belief that can be later ...

Your example is flawed because dragon eggs do exist. Komodo dragons lay eggs. Trying to make something sound implausible is a silly tactic in my opini...

It does not follow that a claim about a mental state entails a claim about what we consider to be the external world. There have always been thinkers ...

Logical positivist A J Ayer had a near death experience. (Which contrasts with the sterile nature of that philosophy.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...

What was the good reason? There are many different types of pre-life, after death, near death accounts etc I wouldn't lump them altogether. Near death...

The problem is that you can't provide corroborating evidence for private mental events. A pre-life or afterlife account is usually only observed by th...

You initially said You started your "debate" being completely dismissive with no good reason. You already dismissed all the claims made in this area w...

Initially You claimed you needed credible evidence and then used scientific evidence as a source of credible evidence and personal testimony as made u...

I wasn't using certain in that sense of the word. I meant it in the sense of some but not all. Personal testimony can be fallible but that does not ma...

Why do you need "scientific" evidence to prove the earth is not flat? If you travel around the globe on a boat you will find it is not flat. Why does ...

I find it completely fascistic when people refuse to except certain evidence based on what is essentially ad hominem about personal testimony and accu...

Values have everything to do with it. The idea your beliefs have nothing to do with your values is simply derisible. Science does not prove the earth ...

I am not sure what you mean. We do not see consciousness in a brain yet we know we are conscious. I am not sure what properties you have found that re...

You are always present in your experiences. The third person is a Literary device. We simple have no access to anyone else's immediate mental states o...

The issue is not about whether something is physical or not but about whether (A) can be detached from (B.) People can mistake what is transmitted int...

Observing someone or something is always first person. I can observe an elephant and you can observe an elephant in the external world. But I can also...

I find it quite easy to imagine consciousness to be separate from the body based on preexistent phenomena. For example it could be like CD which you c...

If someone is having a dream I cannot observe that. I can only interpret peoples behaviour to infer what conscious state they might be undergoing. We ...

I think the big bang and evolution narrative have made it seem more plausible for some people. But consciousness is still a big mystery as well as why...

You can't observe someone else's consciousness. There are lots of things you can't observe that can exist. I think skepticism about mental states is p...

What do you consider credible evidence? It seems you are making a value judgement by using the word credible.

How do you know this?

I think whether there is an afterlife will depend on the nature of consciousness. I think there are good arguments that the mind and that body are not...

I suppose it has to be enforced by the law courts and police as well. Surprisingly you can accrue massive debts without facing prosecution.

Often research groups and groups involved in projects or the government will claim we need X amount of money. Why don't they specify the actual materi...

What I am mainly wondering about is how money acts as a stimulus for innovation. It might be that money just redistributes resources to particular tas...

Modern money is mainly fiat money which gets its value from the government So it is not the equivalent of bartering. I think governments and internati...

These institution are usually run on a hierarchy with certain people within the institution having more power and responsibility. It is not like a hea...

We will have to see what her legacies. I am not sure how representative she is. She certainly seems well meaning. I think politicians that promote lib...

I believe it is possible that the people that constitute a Government organisation are possibly more unethical and psychopathic than your average huma...

I think that if something is not the best option then it is less reasonable. I think harm leads to more harm. For example bombing Germany and Japan in...

That is because I find suffering completely unacceptable.

Well my position is that justifying any harm justifies all harm or leads to moral inconsistency and incoherence. If someone endorses causing me harm I...

Do you think there are justifications for having sex with children? I think there might be a conflation of excuse and justification here. However my o...

It is easier to make contradictory statements and hold contradictory beliefs when you do not have profound beliefs. Another scenario is someone who ha...

My brother does not have children and said he would not have children if there was a risk of them getting MS. I don't know what his opinion is on anti...

If you come from the position that harm is unacceptable then that would undermine any justification for harm. I think once you have reasoned that some...

I am saying consensual harm is mitigated which is by no means the same as justified.

I think feelings and beliefs can be contradictory and actions. I think you can accuse people of being irrational/unreasonable or contradictory on this...

Consent mitigates this situation somewhat. You could argue that desired pain is actually pleasure.

My older brother has had multiple sclerosis for over 20 years which has left him paralyzed for around ten years. I find it problematic, that creating ...

But I think you have logically invalidated the value of life by killing one person without his or her consent. Why does the innocent person you are ki...

But this seems to be because you want to help rather than harm them. I think harming someone to help them is a tricky issue. A surgeon might do this, ...

Should we choose culture over reason? I am thinking more of a reason based assessment. Utilitarian has an issue here. A utilitarian could justify kill...