T_Clark

I disagree. Beyond that, you are talking about semantics not substance. I picked 1905 because it is my understanding that Einstein’s papers in that ye...

I disagree. If you believe science is not based on presuppositions, then you are one of those people who think there’s no value in metaphysics.

Mathematically, an atom is a point. It has a location, a mass, a velocity, a charge, a spin. those are all numbers, no qualitative identity. It’s not ...

I’ll put in this Burtt quote again—“The real world in which man lives is a world of atoms, equipped with none but mathematical characteristics and mov...

For the purposes of this discussion, we’re talking physics—CERN, LIGO, dark matter, string theory, superconductivity. Maybe. I’m not sure. I’ve always...

Interesting. I’m not sure I understand how you can have a materialist epistemology but a non-materialist ontology. Can you give me an example of how t...

Agreed, see the previous exchange between @"Wayfarer" and me below.

I don’t understand why that would be a problem.

My favorite novel. I’ve given it to just about everybody on my gift list, some of them more than once.

This has been a very substantive discussion so far. I think the new approach we discussed in the previous thread gets the credit.

I misunderstood what you meant by “are the mathematical laws themselves physical.” Now that you’ve explained, I agree with you.

I absolutely agree, but I was writing my understanding of the absolute presuppositions Newton and all those other guys used. As I interpreted it, Burt...

Don't be reluctant. That discussion made a big impression on me. I generally agree with this. I talked about reality because that's the term @"Tom Sto...

I thought of you when I was writing the OP. These are issues we have talked about numerous times before. Are you talking about something like Tegmark'...

Keeping in mind, I’ve set these up as the absolute presuppositions of classical physics—If it can’t be understood, there’s no point in studying it, so...

I have taken the position in the past that objective reality is an absolute presupposition of a materialist ontology. I think that is reflected in the...

An absolute presupposition is an assumption. You can't really establish whether it's true or false empirically. It's a way of looking at things that a...

You think I’m wrong. I think I’m right. I think I’m probably as good as judge of this as you are. I’m comfortable with my understanding.

I wrote a bunch of stuff about different principles in the OP. This particular one is just a small portion of what I’m interested in here and not a ce...

The amount of energy is a number, but so is the amount of matter. Energy and matter are just two phases of the same substance like ice, steam, and wat...

Before I get started, I put an edit in the OP to clarify my thoughts. As I noted there, the positions I describe are intended to apply to physics as o...

Yes, science, not scientists. And, as I noted in an edit for clarification, I mean physics in particular. And yes, a discussion of the presuppositions...

Ahem…

E = mc^2

Ketchup, catchup, catsup

Palmiers in French. One of my favorites. Pastries in similar shapes are called elephant ears here in the US, but they usually are not nearly as good. ...

Yew, ewe, you, U

The T Clark family Christmas film festival for 2025 Seven Psychopaths Things to Come A Christmas Tale The Player Superman

This is how I got involved with Taoism from the beginning. I’m an engineer and consider myself pragmatic. I am also introspective and reasonably intel...

Thanks. Seems interesting. I sent the article to Kindle and I'll take a look.

This lays the issue out well. I would add one thing--there is no incoherence or inconsistency in thinking that the physical world did not exist prior ...

I've been thinking about this discussion, wanting to take it further. As I wrote in one of my posts in this thread: I started to try to start on somet...

We've been down this path before. Your and my understandings of what metaphysics is are not compatible. I can take a picture of my camera. I can see m...

Here's your third answer from the OP: This is from Verse 2 of the Tao Te Ching, Stephen Mitchell's translation: You could read the bolded line as "Som...

Yes…well…hmmm.

The following passage from your OP describes the metaphysical positions, claims of both the scientific and phenomenological approaches. Where are elec...

At the heart of my understanding of how things work is the conviction that the foundation of philosophical thought is introspection and self-awareness...

I’m mostly in agreement with your post, although I am a strong believer in a biological, genetic, neurological, psychological, sociological human natu...

I think what we call hate is mostly anger, resentment, and judgment. It’s definitely not logical. Is it irrational? I would say it certainly non-ratio...

Perhaps the most concerning thing about this post is that your battery is charged at about 26%. That being said, Merry Christmas, everyone.

Eight months ago, I posted here I was reading “Infinite Jest” with my family 100 pages at a time. We’ve finished it now. Here’s what I said back at th...

This from Wikipedia: According to the web, this usage is generally considered grammatically correct.

Alas, no.

The best pizza I ever had was at a place called Victory Pizza in Hammond, Indiana—a very beat up neighborhood in a very beat up northern Indiana town....

I strongly endorse Clark Bars.

Where are you these days? I saw the post was from you, but after I read the first two paragraphs, I had to go back and check and make sure it wasn’t w...

I’d like to think I’m being playful. There’s really no answer to your question unless we tie down the meaning of the words we’re using—“thing”, “exist...

There’s a country song that’s refrain is “When your phone don’t ring, that’ll be me.”

This is wrong. It’s my understanding that no horse has 10 legs.

I’m not confused.