You are viewing the historical archive of The Philosophy Forum.
For current discussions, visit the live forum.
Go to live forum

Chris Hughes

Comments

In: Brexit  — view comment
However, you're right - let's get back to Brexit...
November 02, 2019 at 14:02
In: Brexit  — view comment
No, it's not. Use a meaningless phrase a million times, it's still meaningless. This isn't pedantry - it's correction.
November 02, 2019 at 13:58
In: Brexit  — view comment
A misspoken meaningless phrase doesn't acquire meaning due to frequent repetition.
November 02, 2019 at 12:55
In: Brexit  — view comment
I'm not a nazi of the grammatical or any other variety. I ask you to withdraw that remark.
November 02, 2019 at 12:53
In: Brexit  — view comment
You have a point about the UK Liberal Democrats. Their coalition government with the Conservatives (2010-15) seriously damaged their liberal credentia...
November 02, 2019 at 12:42
In: Brexit  — view comment
The Liberals could demand a second policy: the enactment (with no referendum) of proportional representation. Future UK governments would then be coal...
November 01, 2019 at 19:16
In: Brexit  — view comment
OK, the nation would still be divided. But the decision would be better informed and therefore more acceptable. Maybe.
November 01, 2019 at 19:07
In: Brexit  — view comment
A lib-lab pact and/or coalition could heal the divided nation. Their joint policy could be just one item: a second referendum repeating the question: ...
November 01, 2019 at 18:57
In: Brexit  — view comment
As I said, I mean: stay in, but be an outsider. Stay in keep the easy trading with our near neighbours (and to avoid the chlorinated chicken, etc) . B...
November 01, 2019 at 14:54
In: Brexit  — view comment
True.. but polls before the last two general elections and the referendum were wrong.
November 01, 2019 at 12:40
In: Brexit  — view comment
Labour has some problems, but it isn't a catastrophe. It could win. Then there'd be a second referendum next year (Labour's deal or remain). If it's R...
November 01, 2019 at 12:03
In: Brexit  — view comment
BBC News
November 01, 2019 at 11:57
In: Brexit  — view comment
Tory voters won't switch to Labour. Whatever the current state of Labour, why would they? Politico
November 01, 2019 at 11:53
In: Brexit  — view comment
Why do you describe Labour as a catastrophe?
November 01, 2019 at 11:06
In: Brexit  — view comment
Yes, the Tories have a deal in hand - but Labour’s offering a second referendum. If voters go for ref2, the nation, now veering to Remain, might be re...
October 31, 2019 at 23:57
In: Brexit  — view comment
Yes, he got a kicking from most of the press. The ("on balance") pro-EU Guardian tried to be positive, saying the deal “achieves things that can make ...
October 31, 2019 at 19:21
In: Brexit  — view comment
Regarding the "sacrosant" four freedoms, if the free movement of people (FMP) (AKA the unrestricted mobility of cheap labour) is considered essential ...
October 31, 2019 at 15:37
In: Brexit  — view comment
Cameron sought concessions from the EU. He got some on EU immigration and benefits. (see, eg, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-356...
October 31, 2019 at 14:19
In: Brexit  — view comment
As a UK citizen, I suggest a compromise solution to Brexit: be in AND out. Ie, stay in (promise reform of EU free movement of people to the UK, then h...
October 31, 2019 at 07:58
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
The inexplicable manifestation of DNA, I’d say, poses the possibility of it being meaningful. Would such meaningfulness be the same as in Shakespeare"...
October 30, 2019 at 19:22
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
My point, however, is that randomness cannot have spawned DNA - or the works of Shakespeare.
October 30, 2019 at 19:01
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
Woh, don't be so quick to dis the random. It also plays its part, evolution being the love child of Chance and Necessity.
October 30, 2019 at 18:59
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
They're all phenomena largely beyond mechanistic explanation, that's true. (Although, notions of good and bad can perhaps be attributed to the evoluti...
October 30, 2019 at 14:47
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
Yes, stochastic means "random". However, it derives from an Ancient Greek word meaning not only "guess" but also "aim at a target"!
October 30, 2019 at 12:39
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
Perhaps that supports the idea of a conscious universe, pregnant with meaning.
October 30, 2019 at 10:51
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
Like the 'strange attractor' towards which a dynamic system tends to evolve? Yes, I hadn't thought of that.
October 30, 2019 at 10:04
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
So meaning can't be reduced to the mechanics of language.
October 30, 2019 at 03:40
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
Yes - language, being the means of expresssion, is inseparable from meaning. However, it's arguably secondary to thought. We think, therefore we speak...
October 30, 2019 at 03:38
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
Re altering the boundaries of consciousness, that raises the question: what boundaries?
October 30, 2019 at 00:48
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
Re abiogenesis, there are interesting and (inevitably) speculative theories but no agreed explanation.
October 30, 2019 at 00:44
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
Theory always tries to change boundaries!
October 30, 2019 at 00:42
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
No doubt non-linear dynanics tries to understand the tension beteeen chaos and order, nothing and something, etc. How far does it succeed, though? Do ...
October 30, 2019 at 00:27
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
OK - but it doesn't mean importance either. The meaning of Shakespeare’s writing is in his mind. Mind/consciousness produces meaning. There's no agree...
October 30, 2019 at 00:10
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
And your account of the development of DNA only makes sense if it explains how you get from the component chemicals to self-replication - but it doesn...
October 29, 2019 at 23:05
In: The significance of meaning  — view comment
It doesn't mean significance. Its not signing for something. It's more fundamental than that.
October 29, 2019 at 23:00
⇧