Some eight months ago, darthbarracuda wrote: "What something is is not simply a question of its material constitution but of its relationship to other...
For an enjoyable introduction to ordinary language philosophy, you may consider: John L. Austin, Sense and Sensibilia, OUP (1962) For some more introd...
This is a problem that the NRA is well aware of, and it motivates one of the very few gun regulations that they would approve of. They have thus endor...
No trouble. But this is indeed what I was saying. Once properly characterized, an Aristotelian virtue isn't something that anyone can have in excess. ...
I don't see where it is that we have any disagreement. What you call "the right sort of anger" we might call the right sort of circumstance for expres...
As I said, Aristotle's practical "syllogism" only is a syllogism by analogy to the theoretical syllogism. Unlike the latter it doesn't have a deductiv...
I think it may occasionally be a tad too strict, even though, to my knowledge, I haven't myself been moderated before. Maybe there ought to be a threa...
Aristotle if frequently misunderstood. That's because he talks with a rather thick Greek accent. I think this way of framing the question would be uni...
The idea simply is that you can't have a virtue if you don't have them all. This thesis is not as extravagant as it may seem. The reason why the thesi...
Akrasia is a very difficult concept and my thoughts about it are far from definitive. In fact, two of my favorite philosophers -- John McDowell and Da...
That's true of "rationality" as it is commonly understood in modern times (maybe since the 17th century). But it's not true of rationality as Aristotl...
They are co-extensive but they are not the same thing. They are co-extensive because they are inter-dependent. Someone who has picked up bad habits, o...
You are confusing "practical" with "utilitarian" or "instrumental". Practical reason, as opposed to theoretical reason, is the part of reason that is ...
Reason has two domains of application in Aristotle: theoretical and practical. Practical reason is in good order when a rational being has acquired pr...
We probably are screwed to some extent but that is no argument for inaction. It might be extremely difficult, at this stage, to limit global warming b...
Not only do most scientists who have a relevant expertise in climate science, or atmospheric physics, believe that the enhanced greenhouse effect if l...
This is incorrect because the manner in which norms of sound reasoning (either practical reasoning or theoretical reasoning) govern our behaviors and ...
I am not arguing that the laws of nature, and whatever may be happening in my brain, or my past education, experience, etc., don't "influence" what I ...
When you do X in order to do Y then your doing X can be construed as a manifestation of your intention to to Y. If you are breaking eggs in order to m...
This is only a negative characterization of "compatibilist free will". Of course, saying that one is a compatibilist just is to say that one holds tha...
You can't cast the content of moral thought solely in evolutionary terms. If you are going to grant that evolutionary pressures account for both moral...
I am not arguing that our thought process is non-causal, or causal. I am not talking about any sort of process. The working of our brains is causal an...
What I am arguing is that the limited information that we have regarding our present practical situations often (or at least sometimes) is sufficient ...
I wasn't here arguing that human beings "need" something non-causal. I just pointed out what ought to be uncontroversial, but that you seemingly are o...
I can grant you that there does not occur an intention, or an intentional action (in progress), without an act of will. But the content of the act of ...
This is clearly a simplification. This simplified definition is immediately followed by a quote from Schopenhauer. I had asked you if you knew a conte...
This hardly answers the charge of naturalistic fallacy. Some inherited agressive tendencies, which may contribute to explaining why some people commit...
Yes, this is just one of the glaring contradictions in Harris's confused theory. To be fair, such inherent contradictions have a tendency to crop up w...
You might want to rethink this. Things that have a causal impact (positive or negative) on the wellbeing of sentient creatures aren't part of wellbein...
In that case it is also useless. In any given practical situation, a real human being -- as opposed to a God who contemplates the whole universe from ...
It doesn't seem like you have read The Moral Landscape then. Or, if you have, you may not have paid sufficient attention. Harris is a moral realist. O...
Evolution has its own agenda. Human beings have a different agenda. For sure, contingent features of our evolutionary history can account for some ten...
If you have a suitably abstract view of "the universe" such that numbers and other abstracta make up an integral part of it, then, maybe, you could ar...
I don't know any contemporary compatibilist philosopher who endorses such a simplistic conception of compatibilist free will. Can you point me to one?...
Finding ways to satisfy your needs and desires just is a small part of the function of practical reason and of the scope of human freedom. Human being...
It certainly is quite obvious and there indeed is little reason for anyone to deny it. What is questionable is Harris's use of this commonplace assert...
If someone tells you that she believes the weather will be rainy tomorrow, you can ask her why she believes it. If she tells you that she intents to s...
I just argued that *even if* you had a perfect predictive/causal model of the behavior of a human being, that still would not tell you how it is that ...
Even if you could somehow acquire a perfect "model" of a fellow human being and thereby know exactly how different "interventions" on them would "prod...
Deciding what to believe isn't the same as deciding what to do. Of course, both of those abilities rest on rational abilities, broadly construed, but ...
This is strange, and I doubt if you can really live up to this lofty (however misguided) ideal. Your pragmatism seems to be grounded on an utilitarian...
Just because aliens have landed doesn't mean it's an "invasion". Endorse multiculturalism (and multispeciesm) and don't spoil your interstellar vacati...
To praise and blame people just is to hold them responsible. When you are holding someone responsible for having acted badly, because in this instance...
Daniel Dennett says that we are "wet robots". He may be called a mechanicist-compatibilist since he endorses a view of the universe (and all the livin...
You misunderstand. I argued the exact opposite: that you ought not to construe the free human agent as an entity that can control the unfolding of the...
Those are two rather different sorts of influences. The deterministic computer isn't responsible for the inputs that are provided to it and those inpu...
What ability don't you see any evidence of? The ability to make justified rational decisions or enlightened moral choices? But the conception of free ...
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