ernestm

not quite right. The debate is over the woman's right to liberty over her unborn child's right to life. The point is that each side can offer equally ...

The first step is to recognize the primary limit of scientific theory itself, for which purpose I introduce one example: that of quantum mechanics. Co...

I always felt the idea of an individual is somewhat overrated. I am not so solipsistic to think all my beliefs are my own. I picked up a lot of them f...

Paine's idea of common sense is based on naive realism, which is a simple but rather limited epistemological system, and tends to lead to people holdi...

rofl, one day maybe you will understand what I said, but its really not important.

I think it might be useful to consider the difference between material truth, on which the philosophy of science rests, separate from 'absolute truth....

that is a very good answer, Ralph, thank you very much.

Part of the reason this debate has become fruitless is that 'truth' is considered of higher value than 'understanding.' Absolute truth is by nature ta...

Thank you for your replies. As I said, I think authoritarianism is a better label. I was just a little in shock at the brazen binary choice that Trump...

If a malignant demon appears telling us to doubt our perceptions, we cannot really doubt our experience of the malignant demon either.

As I already said twice, I have several independent verifications.

There was also an interview with Time Magazine this week, which carried the cover page "Is truth dead?" Trump basically resolved any dispute with his ...

As I said, I have several independent verifications. I think authoritarianism is a better description, it is more specific. Thank you for the input.

The problem is not so much that a dictator can't be good, but rather there are increasingly less effective ways to get rid of the bad ones. They used ...

Well thank you for your opinion. What would be the political ideology for this binary-choice question if it is NOT fascist?

well I pressed accept answer, I dont know if that was the right thing to do. I would appreciate hearing more opinions.

Hamilton dropped out of college. I did write something on that but it is 20,000 words and I am not allowed to share a link.

thats interesting, mongrel, thank you

I dont think he has undermined anything; Sorry for the late reply.

No, that was not my question. My question was whether only some people are able to see the light. It is my experience with those interested in platoni...

Moore restated Hume's guillotine as the naturalistic fallacy. That was actually the main basis of most discussion of ethics in the logical schools of ...

lol. I really should finish copy editing that. Due to others asking to read this, its now posted on my blog. the only real difference is a quote from ...

Yeah it is ridiculous isnt it. Today Al Gore appeared on PBS calling for 'reason.' I posted this. I expect no result any more. It's kind of like a chi...

Good point jkop. The fact is people can easily find find reinforcement for hostile, violent, socially unacceptable views now, which would rapidly have...

the problem with atomism is discussed in another thread on theseus' ship.

I beleive what is happening now is different than in the past because of social media. Now people with any particular view can find others to validate...

my dad is 92. He gave up on making a difference quite a long time ago. I was a hold out. He does enjoy the subject though. thank you for the complimen...

I think the problem is far deeper actually. Today, someone told me that terrorism had been going on for hundreds of years, citing Vietnam as proof. 'T...

"It is beyond the capacity of any person such as me to rectify the problem, as I had so much once hoped when I started writing on natural law two year...

Well thank you. I must say the ONLY people who seem to appreciate this are the Stoics. But not all of them. I added references, quotes, pictures, and ...

Well it appears you know a great deal more than most. The problem as I see it as follows. Augustine not only denied the golden age (as originally stat...

Thank you for making a nice forum, and I will save some money for you.

Ah, well that is what the next 60,000 words will explain. I am so glad you are interested.

'The truth' is a rather dubious concept. I merely state that law must be based on the human condition. the reason for that statement is simple. if law...

Yes, I am aware you think that, and I will look forward to discussing it further with you after you grow up.

i again have to point out that I am not particularly concerned with distinctions of secular and divine law. It seems I cant say that often enough. I m...

So now, it occurs to me that there isa real reason why Justinian's codices disappeared, and it really was too much rationality for the world to bear. ...

that is a very thoughtful ansewr thank you. You are not the only to say it today, so I have not written clearly enough on the point I was trying to ma...

quite a lot of people say that. So I assume you already know the standard answers. It's not as if you have any particularly unusual misconceptions tha...

GLOBAL WARMING: Finding the Missing Heat ~ The real problem for those wishing to ignore the effect of human beings on the climate is the greenhouse ef...

Well China is not really communist now. It is a one-party political system where the dominant party is communist. That may seem absurd to the Western ...

So anyway, what I did today was finalize the first paragraph of the book, which as you request, ends with a question. To understand law, we must start...

Very well, I will not distract you from your egocentricism further. I. I. I, I. I. Please excuse the intrusion. Other matters will be more important.

I have to agree with apokrisis, and moreover, as :Locke said regarding his social contract: The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to prese...

what we *mean* by *real color* is how a large uniformly, flat colored object appears in daylight. That is just a standardized reference by convention....

Now I will explain the point of this basis. All human law is contingent on the laws of nature. The famous example from Justinian happens to be, bees. ...

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5983/5983-h/5983-h.htm#link2H_4_0003

It's quite clear what the non-contingent purpose is. I just told you what it is. In fact it predates Aquinas. The first to state it as the basis of so...

It seems to me there is a muddling of two things. First, there is the reference to which 'Theseus' ship' points, if indeed reference is the mechanism ...

You continue to make the mistake of assuming that you can deduce the answer from pure reason. If you wish to connect the concept of a social contract ...