T_Clark

It's not a mistake and your response is disingenuous. There is no freedom of speech beyond what protections government or other institutions provide. ...

No, slander shouldn't be illegal. As I noted in my response to @"NOS4A2", slander is not a crime in the US, which makes sense to me.

Whenever this subject comes up, someone points out that freedom of speech, the First Amendment here in the US, only applies to government action. It d...

The philosopher I feel most at home with is Lao Tzu, who wrote "The Tao Te Ching," one of the founding documents of Taoism. As the first verse says "T...

I think we've carried this issue as far as we're going to get.

As I indicated previously, I appreciate the sentiment. It means a lot to me.

You're new to the forum, so maybe you don't know how rare that kind of acknowledgment is. I appreciate it.

In the first example, forcing someone to make a decision doesn't force them to make a neutral one. As for slaves and convicted criminals, there are no...

I disagree. Have you ever read a judges decision in a court case. Just look at recent events in the Supreme Court in the US. How could nine judges com...

How is the person forced? By threats? How could such a decision be neutral?

Although this is true, it's not what I've been trying to explain. I thought I expressed myself clearly, perhaps not. To go any further I'm just going ...

I don't think there is a misunderstanding, just a disagreement. What is ethical is a personal value. Even an understanding that it is necessary to con...

Again, I can't think of an example of a decision that can be made without values. When I was an engineer, the first question in any decision making fo...

What you're describing is not consistent with what is known about human decision making. Emotions and values are an integral part of thinking and deci...

I’m God. If I say it’s four, it’s four.

Do you know who Dr. Phil is? He's pure evil. No. You're thinking of Franco.

Four things 1) I would be omnipotent 2) I would be omniscient 3) 4) I wouldn't care what you thought or wanted.

Careful, don't piss God off. Maybe I'll send them to Spain instead. You know what? I'm definitely going to send Dr. Phil to Spain.

Not necessarily in higher regard, but the most vulnerable are due the greatest protection. I'm God, for God's sake. Don't pester me with details and l...

I'd send anyone who intentionally killed, tortured, seriously hurt, or abused a child to North Korea permanently. Oh, and Dr. Phil too.

I have a strong intuition (wishful thinking?) there is an innate human nature. As I have always seen it, innate language is the strongest instance of ...

This is true I don't disagree with this. I like to think I'm open minded, but I find the evidence for the innate nature of language convincing. I also...

Evidence from psychological and cognitive science studies indicates this is not true. Language, including grammar and naming is a genetically inherite...

No

It is my understanding that it is an inherent human tendency to personify aspects of our world. Babies are instinctively responsive to human faces and...

I disagree strongly. You clearly have no interest in serious philosophy. Then again, the Shoutbox is specifically intended for pettifogging.

Apokrisis has written a lot about biosemiotics and, based on his recommendations, I've read a couple of articles. I must admit I've never have been ab...

Here is my response to a similar claim you made in the "God" discussion.

Have you looked at the scientific discussion of abiogenesis? It's just one more of the questions for which there are hypotheses but no accepted theory...

Have you ever read a Spanish book and also the English translation? If so, what was the experience like? Did the translation get the original right?

I've always been intrigued by translation. I wonder about the difference of your experiences reading it in Spanish as opposed to English.

Lao Tzu (Laozi) is not punk. He's cookies and milk sitting by the fire.

I'm a fan of "Who cares."

Once you've gotten past the silly, creaky "why is there something rather than nothing" question, the universe can't be an "accident." It's inevitable....

I like the way you've formulated this issue - judging a choice of perspective based on usefulness. For me, that's the heart of the matter.

Collingwood has a much different take on metaphysics than Aristotle and Quine. Be that as it may, there's no reason for you to read it if it's not up ...

Yes, I think that's exactly right. In my experience you can't nest a quote within a quote on the forum. Maybe someone else knows how to do it.

Oh, wait. I guess I didn't answer your question... Did I mention that's a good question?

Good question... We argue about that kind of thing here all the time. I'll take a swing at it - the mind is a non-physical manifestation of a physical...

I don't consider myself a Kantian and I can use those of his ideas I find valuable without having to accept everything he says. As Lorenz wrote in the...

I agree, although I think in the context of this discussion, the difference is important.

Why do you say that? Isn't truth a metaphysical concept?

I don't understand the logic of this. Of course a relativistic position is relativistic. Not all self-reference is self-contradictory. 180 Proof, I kn...

I think you're stretching the meaning of the word "relativism" here. "Universe" means everything. We only have access to this scope of being, dimensio...

I'm with Kant on this. A broader perspective recognizes the nature and extent of a priori knowledge applies to more than just space and time. Percepti...

It's not clear to me that "relativism" and "subjectivism" mean the same thing, e.g. Catholic Church doctrine is that abortion is absolutely wrong, but...

Welcome to the forum. A well-written and well thought out OP (original post). To start... If you hang around you'll see that my arguments very often c...

Europeans have their own extensive and continuing history of colonialism and exploitation.

Sometimes people say things like this so they won't have to take responsibility for social conditions in the society where they live. Edited

Good to know.