I'm the opposite. Definitions are important because in my experience, if the definition of what we are talking about isn't clarified or agreed on, the...
Here, I would simply use the qualifiers, "normal" and "abnormal". There are normal dogs in nature, and there are abnormal dogs in nature. As a matter ...
That is my point - that miracles and God are mislabelled as "supernatural" when they should be labeled as "natural" especially if they existed prior t...
I didn't take the word, "physical" in the definition that way. It could be that all there is is the physical. I don't necessarily agree with the defin...
Good point. Yes, definitions matter. So let's define "imaginings" and "reality" in a way that makes sense and see if we can maintain the gist of their...
If idealism were the case, then that means that fundamental particles would be colors, shapes, sounds, smells, feelings, etc., I'd love to hear an ide...
If the universe has a beginning, then that would be the first "natural" cause. If the universe was the effect of some cause, then that cause would be ...
It would be useful to keep the natural/supernatural distinction were it not for the contradictory nature (pun intended) of this distinction, as I poin...
I'm with you and Aquinas here. Whoah... hold your horses. This part seems to be wholly dependent upon an arbitrary, anthropomorphic boundary Aquinas c...
As usual with these philosophical questions, it comes down to the definition of "free will". If free will is simply the ability to make decisions, the...
The objective existence is possessed by the actual computer screen with black and white dots on it that forms the shape of a 2-D cow. In this instance...
For starters, the usage of the terms, "nature", and "supernatural" seem to imply that nature existed first, or is the primary aspect of reality, and t...
It has implications on what is being discussed. Everything is interconnected. You can't talk about one thing without it implying other things and igno...
Why does it matter what term we use to label the fundamental substance of reality? It seems to me that it is the term that you don't like, as reality ...
Sure. People have a tendency to keep asking "Why...?", but this isn't evidence that there is more to be discovered. It is simply evidence that we seek...
I don't remember anyone making that particular point. I made the point that "supernatural" would lose it's meaning in the absence of the natural becau...
I rolled this answer around in my mind a bit more and it seems that we are agreeing for the most part. Because we are cut off from direct contact with...
This doesn't address my answer. Again, if you are using a word in a way that is unfamiliar to me, then even the context isn't going to help me. I did ...
I'm not sure if I'm understanding you here. In every dictionary I've looked at, the word "trump" doesn't have the definition you are ascribing to it. ...
Do you realize what you just asked? You asked, "What do I mean...." In other words, the meaning is related to your intent. What is it that you intende...
How so? "Nature" would then be synonymous with "reality", or "multiverse". So even if "nature" did lose it's meaning (and I don't think it would), we'...
Shouldn't the way people use words be logical? Aren't I pointing to the illogical ways people are using words? From my perspective, it is those people...
Uhh... yeah. If everyone was a "full-time" writer or metal-worker - meaning that is all they did, 24-7, and never possessed an inclination to eat or p...
What is the meaning of "supernatural" in the absence of the "natural"? "Artificial" is often used to define man-made things, but since man is a natura...
A supernatural law would have the same problem. There is a way the world is and then there are the patterns we find in the way the world is, and we ca...
You still don't seem to understand the very terms you are using. Being a lighthouse keeper still requires you to be sociable to the captains and sailo...
You're confusing asocial behavior with anti-social behavior. What I mean is the definition of antisocial. Here, let me help you: Definition of antisoc...
It doesn't have to do with the society itself defining what is sane vs. insane behavior. It has to do with the common features we all share vs. rare f...
If the one doing it was named,"Joe" then he would be 1 joe tall, while everyone else would be 0.8, 1.2, etc joes tall. Measurements are relative. It's...
Thats why you need to share your observations with others in order be more objective. Even in observing external phenomenon requires you to share thos...
So it is a mental illness to make observations and then categorize those observations? If that is the case, then every human being is mentally ill. It...
The problem is that too many people have made an emotional investment in what they believe. They have connected their emotional state with their belie...
You aren't taking the time to read my posts. I already explained in my first post what a "set of instructions for interpreting sensory impressions" is...
You didn't clarify it. You made it more complex. My question was quite simple. Finally. Thank you for agreeing that your argument in the OP isn't an a...
To define language as a game means that language must be a game, no? In other words, you can never escape using words to refer to some state-of-affair...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5ljEBkCeMQ Pinker makes two great points in this video: 1) the fact that there can be two ideas underlying one word l...
Sure, one can claim that they have a set of instructions for interpreting some sensory impression, and then there is the true interpretation of that s...
It would be no big deal if he didn't use the qualifier, "my". By using this term he seems to imply that there are other worlds. If there are other wor...
I never said ideas come with an expiration date. That would be committing a genetic fallacy. My point was that old ideas without the new is only telli...
"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." -W. There is no "my" world. There is the world and the limits of my language mean the limits ...
Reading philosophy by dead philosophers that didn't have access to the findings of modern science is like reading a science book written by some dead ...
This and the OP implies that in order to be truly free then we shouldnt interact with anyone ever for fear of being manipulated by others. It would se...
This isn't an argument. This is what I call nitpicking. Are we really that bored on this forum? It would seem to me that the correlation your are tryi...
What you seem to be saying is that we never possess knowledge. We only possess claims of knowledge. Does that make any sense? If we don't possess know...
I received many hellos from my co-workers when arriving at work this morning. "Hello" refers to something here. It refers to the act of greeting. So, ...
Language games are merely artful ways of using words, but it is also a logical use of words. When we learn things, we establish connections between ma...
Are you reading your own thread? I'm responding to the conversation that was happening in this thread, not your constant posting of W.'s writings and ...
If language doesn't refer to things that are real, or accurate, then how is it that any one can talk about language itself? What does it mean to talk ...
If representation, or symbolism, isn't the case, then how is it that I have different ways of experiencing the same thing. For instance, I can see tha...
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