Marchesk

I'm not sure what the bubble machine metaphor is attempting to assert. I take it the bubbles are akin to universes that evolve the right paremeters ov...

This is a true, and that's a sticking point. On a Denettian position, it's difficult to see how being envatted and experiencing a fake physical world ...

Well, a scientific realist need not agree with direct perception. They can be an indirect realist, thinking that our perceptions of color, sound, etc....

Because the vat is feeding them the sensory impressions of a physical world, similar to Neo in the Matrix.

I'm saying that we all start our philosophical arguments somewhere. And depending on where you start, there are certain considerations that fall out a...

Not at all, just that direct realism is a good epistemology for supporting physicalism.

I'm asserting that there is a BIV who espouses physicalism to explore whether there position could be consistent or defendable as a BIV, whether they ...

We all make our philosophical arguments from some starting point, which will have some metaphysical basis. If one begins with there being a physical w...

It can if one is a direct realist, because then you're perceiving the actual physical objects, instead of being aware of some mental intermediary.

I'd rather not think about Trump in the nude, thanks.

But the models are about something which is outside all subjective views, or at least human/animal ones, because as Apo mentioned, it's invariant acro...

You still have some scientists talking about things like the world obeying laws of nature, or evolution progressing toward greater complexity. You hav...

However, the justification for Cartesianism, which has it's roots in ancient philosophy noting the distinction between appearance and reality, is that...

My fault.

Indeed. I like the discussion of causality in the review. Also the mention of Nancy Cartwright's work. She had interesting and nuanced ideas about sci...

It doesn't matter when an idea was put forth. What matters is whether the idea has merit. You're arguing that ancient philosophical ideas should be di...

Doesn't the book referenced in the OP present an argument for a revival of Aristotelian metaphysics on scientific and logical grounds? Or at least the...

This is sadly true of politics in general, or at least it has been in US politics the last couple decades. I wish the pragmatic approach would win out...

That's what I was wondering. I do think longterm it tends to backfire. There's only so many apocalyptic scenarios one can hear before most people just...

I don't know what being right is. I vacillate between things will work out and we're doomed. Maybe it's somewhere in between.

That article is a perfect example of environmental "alarmism". I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong. I don't know the future. But I have heard this s...

This sounds like a form of modal realism.

Right, so there's a difference between being concerned about deforestation and helping people understand the value the Amazon has for a healthy planet...

It's more a commentary on public perception and media repointing, which can influence policy. We're currently on our way to around 11 billion people b...

Necessary means it's impossible for the being to not be necessary, so there is no becoming. By definition, it can't be the case that God wasn't necess...

Sophisticated notions have God as the necessary being for existence, and not some additional thing of complexity that needs explaining. Of course one ...

People on here who towed the hardcore idealist line sans God or some universal consciousness would say that perception is brute, and there's no explan...

I just read that Dummett held a similar position: He then continues on to make a case for a universal perceiver who holds on things together, which wo...

He at least had God keeping things in the quad when nobody was around. Some of the idealist/realist debates on the old forum which didn't typically re...

I see. So then on Dummett's account, the anti-realist qua truth rejects bivalence across the board. A statement only has a truth value if you can prov...

While Dummett agrees with Witty on meaning being use, he disagrees that this makes metaphysical statements meaningless. Thus, his argument for realizi...

Isn't that the same as deflationist? Which might be anti-realist, however, "the snow is white", isn't denying a state of affairs, it's just saying tha...

Maybe so for trees. A better one might be: Realist: Life exists on Mars. Idealist (anti-realist stripe): There is no truth to this statement until we ...

Yes, but is that a coherent position to take? Or is it just ancient skepticism? Actually, I'm not sure whether skeptics denied that claims could be tr...

An example that comes to mind: A realist states that the tree blew over in a high wind the night before while nobody was around. The anti-realist will...

Can you unpack this for me?

Just randomly: "The water of green flies into vacuum's innocence, giving us a Trump's tweet of hope." Pomo Generator: "The primary theme of the works ...

Which raises the question of whether words can be lifted outside of their domain of discourse and retain their meaning. That's the charge against phil...

New discussion incoming. This one is probably too far along for others to want to join in, so might as well start fresh.

Oh really? So you think if one of us made a thread on meaning that we would have agreement? There's been an ongoing debate in philosophy over meaning,...

Yes, you did. I tend to agree with you. But doesn't that make the dispute in this thread undecidable, if meaningful? IOW, these kinds of disputes have...

Well, almost the entire thread is a disagreement over whether metaphysical statements can be meaningful which boils down to: Pro: Example provided. An...

This is a legitimate criticism of Carnap's position on metaphysics and verificationsim in general. However, and this ties back to the OP, I do see fro...

In my view, you're just making a case for sophistry in this thread.

I don't experience "chaos of the senses". I experience an intelligible world. This is something Heidegger pointed out. The chaos of the sense which th...

Good one, but having God experiences is not universally reported, unlike dreams, imagination, feeling pain, etc. Subjectivity is universal. But when t...

Metaphysical theories are explanatory on conceptual grounds. You argue for or against the ideas. How well they hold together, what their flaws are, wh...

Yes, but it's hard to believe them when they say there's nothing it's 'like' to experience being us, unless they are philosophical zombies. I think it...

Agreed. It's similar to the claim that religious believers don't really believe in their theology, when it's making claims about God or the afterlife,...

But I've argued against verification being a requirement for statements being meaningful. Metaphysical statements can't be verified. They go beyond th...