T_Clark

I don't think we have any difficulty answering Mew's question, we just have difficulty agreeing. And then you brought free will into it. If you and Ti...

I know you are, but what am I? Or - Oh yeah!? Or something like that

The etymology of the word "philosophy" is from the Greek for "love of wisdom", but that's not what the word means. Should we define it?

Go through all the posts on the website. I would not call the general tone "happy." People who think too much tend to be a melancholy and self-involve...

What's different for different people is the balance between ignorance and examination. Different things work for different people. Why all this fanfa...

I like the phrase "play the game" in this context and I don't see it as dismissive. I don't think "we have no idea why." We have too many ideas why, a...

As I said in a previous post, here is a possible answer to the question "what grounds them?

Perhaps that is a good definition of "relativism." Or is that what you were saying.

More evidence - we'll argue about anything.

No, no, I insist.

Isn't that true of any except the simplest idea, perhaps something as definite as mathematics as Srap Tasmaner has been writing.

I don't think we will resolve our differences on this matter. Whatever I say will just be a repeat of something I said before, so I'm going to leave t...

I disagree. As I said, at the level we are discussing, i.e. restaurant bills and similar situations, math is just arithmetic. It's trivial. The capita...

Agreed. But there aren't all that many questions that are just about the math. Math questions are easily answered without conflict not because they ar...

Have you ever split up a bill before? "I think we should just split the bill three ways." "No way, I only had one drink but Bill had three and I had a...

Maybe "legitimate" is not the right word. Maybe "reasonable" is better. Reasonable in that basic principles are 1) clearly stated and 2) justified bas...

In a previous post I laid out an impressionistic list of basic human values I think could form the basis of a legitimate relativistic moral code. Hows...

Choices don't have to be rational. As a matter of fact, I think they generally aren't. My wife asks me - "would you like pizza or shrimp for dinner?" ...

Yes, we could split the bill with few issues. We could just as easily agree that it was morally or ethically wrong when Tim Wood snuck off without pay...

I like the emphasis on cultural and societal context. I think it makes a relativist position more rigorous and more consistent with human nature. Both...

Thanks. I'd like to hear what Mew has to say too.

I described a philosophical approach - "The doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context,...

I didn't say that preferences or strong desires dictate choices. I made a specific distinction between desires and other factors which motivate action...

You and I are using the word "relativism" differently. As is my wont, I've gone to the internet and looked up five definitions The view that truth and...

My first reaction is "no," but I'm not sure about that. What difference does it make if it is?

Math is only objectively true as long as it is abstract. When you start filling in the blanks with information from the real world, you get all the un...

I am getting a little tired of this misrepresentation of the relativist position. Here's a definition I used in a previous post on this thread - "the ...

No paradox. Irony maybe. Both willful ignorance and searching for understanding can have positive or negative results. There's a lot going on the worl...

Here's how I experience choice. I'm not sure what the philosophical or psychological implications are. I picture a spring, water bubbling up from unde...

It is not a matter of what I expect you to believe, it is a matter of the actual meaning of the phrase "ad hominem." What I said was in no way, direct...

Let's see. So. Are you saying that criticism that is snotty and condescending can still be constructive? There was no ad hominem attack in my post. I ...

I don't want to go getting into a discussion of "truth" here. There are 457 other threads where that has been beaten with a stick. Be that as it may, ...

Are you saying you're going to use force against people because they disagree with your philosophy? You talk about absolute moral values, I would have...

In common English usage, when we're talking about physical rather than moral matters, incorrect and wrong are synonyms. They mean the same thing, with...

Here is a definition of "relativism" from a dictionary site - "the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society,...

I went on line. Here are five definitions of “anger” I found on dictionary sites and Wikipedia: A strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostili...

Your criticism is not constructive, it is snotty and condescending. Which would be ok, I guess, if it were helpful and responsive, but it's not. Most ...

Here's my opinion. The rules of philosophy, those that make it useful, are the rules of reason. Are they strict? They are unavoidable. If you don't fo...

I am lost with this whole "existence = logical consistency" thing. In what sense is a billiard ball logically consistent? How can a physical object be...

That would be an interesting question for another thread.

I must admit, I've gotten lost in this back and forth between noAxioms and litewave, so I've been reading, but not participating. I do have a problem ...

Nitpicking. They compare sets with uncountably large numbers of members. It exists to the extent I understand that the universe, which does exist, may...

I don't want to go down this path now, it's off post, but I'll say this - Love is no more the pattern of neurons blinking in my brain than the basketb...

And yet mathematicians talk about and use the concept of infinity in productive ways all the time.

"...objective existence, a term with which I have yet to find any meaning." We sort of agree, but I think the terms "objective existence" and "objecti...

"naming a new concept can at times bring awareness of the concept into existence within the minds of others …" Let's see. Maybe I'm saying "awareness ...

"Ah, but these stated givens don’t exist because they were named. They were named, and conceptualized, because they exist." And I say it is useful to ...

And my response to you is the same as mine for Owen.

Of course Vulcan, Pegasus, and Santa exist. Or are you saying that only things that have a physical representation exist? By that standard, mathematic...

"to exist is to be spoken of." Yes. As Lao Tzu may have written - "The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things....