Wayfarer

Compare with this passage from a contemporary Zen teacher: This 'seeing directly' is what is called in the Zen tradition 'satori', although there are ...

I corresponded with an emeritus professor about this question. He noted that all the major breakthroughs in physics needed new mathematics; that Einst...

:yikes: I have neither the time nor inclination to study this philosopher, but everthing I've read about him raises red flags. Of current French philo...

Does the universe exist if we're not looking?

I'll look into that.

Of course. I would not like to rush in where even Einstein feared to tread, but it is at least plausible. :up:

You could say that it was Kant who pointed out that the empiricist's ideas of the 'blank slate' were fallacious. What about the claim that scientific ...

I glanced at that, yet another dense academic paper. I might try and find time to look at it later. Suffice to say that at this point I'm happy to acc...

It is a thought worth pursuing. Actually even though it's very sketchy, it's suggestive of Kant's response to Hume's problem. Apropos of which, there ...

Because, I suppose the argument is, it cannot be determined a priori, in principle - that is, as a matter of definition. I think that is what interest...

That's too easy. Through mathematics, a great many things have been discovered which could otherwise never have been known. It's not just a matter of ...

It's one aspect of it, but I feel there's a lot more to be said. So do I! I was going to include it as one of the refs in the OP. He says Why isn't it...

Interesting point - but then, we don't expect scientific laws to change over time, although there's some dispute over that (Peirce for instance callin...

This is a philosophy forum, so it is apt. It's not a physics forum - and if I introduced this thread to Physicsforum it would be deleted because they ...

The effort would be to no avail were there not causal connections there to be made. Isn't it? Didn't I? It's your intentional action, plus a lot of wo...

But what about when it is applied to (for example) computing? Then there is plainly causation involved, as it produces a physical outcome. The fact th...

Thanks for your response, but I think it needs elaboration. Kant's 'answer to Hume' involves some pretty dense reasoning. I'm going to spend some time...

Well, you'd better present one! :wink:

Not. You're talking about atoms, 'indivisible particles', but there are none. Nowadays a particle is an excitation of a field. Didn't think it worth p...

I suppose I'll concede that.

Oh yes? Like who?

At last! You say something connected to what I've written. Took some doing. It is, nevertheless, a thesis I find both defensible and appealing, becaus...

:scream: Look Out...

Generally I appreciate your perspective, but I don't think that is a valid line of argument. The reason the ancients valued logical and arithmetical t...

Zelensky was asked about his reflections on the Ukraine's ability to repel the invasion of Kyiv.

That they'd rather seem incompetent than vulnerable to military attack? Putin was mainly provoked by the fact that Ukraine was successfully independen...

I think the quest was for 'the immortal' - that which is not subject to death and decay. And the motive for that is not hard to discern, as the human ...

Yes! That is the one piece of information I never possessed, up until a very late interview with Walter and Donald, where they kindly explained it. Un...

The hatred that religions have often showed for other religions is one of the best arguments against religion. As I said at the outset, when I embarke...

Bonus point: Third World Man is Joni Mitchell’s favourite Dan song.

That is addressed in the longer quotation that Schopenhauer 1 provided from Schopenhauer 0 on the previous page, to wit:

This report has not been corroborated in detail by other sources although there are many reports that the ship was struck by two missiles. True to for...

sock puppet account, I think.

So what? You're not allowed to have an interest in the subject unless you're a 'religious person'? Who get to decide that?

For sure. Habits of thought re-assert themselves constantly. :up: That's where phenomenology dovetails well with Buddhist philosophy, which says that ...

The key point here is the precise meaning of ‘to exist’. If I were to answer ‘no’, then you would say ‘aha! So you’re claiming the universe ceases to ...

I agree with you. It’s all about instantaneous gratification, no effort required, simply the satisfaction of immediate impulses. so, what about ‘they ...

I think that dynamic had a lot to do with it. Might have turned out very differently had some of the more gnostically-oriented sects prevailed at the ...

Let me have another shot, on the basis of what you've said. Going back again to Parmenides, then Plato, then Aristotle - there you have the beginning ...

I'm not claiming any expertise, but I also don't accept your reading that Kant sweeps the whole of metaphysics off the table or that he's an out-and-o...

Hey thanks for setting me straight on that lyric. Always thought it was a reference to a 'latter day' someone or other. (BTW, for bonus points, I know...

Computers are the artefacts of human minds, built and programmed by humans. So unless the mind is physical - which is the point at issue! - then you c...

It's much easier to dismiss the whole subject than to even begin to understand it.

Recall that according to the Greek tradition, that humans have a dual nature - sense and reason - the intellectual faculty being nous (ironically re-d...

I’d take time to read that article carefully, it has sound provenance.

that is a meaningless question. You might imagine a universe devoid of observers, but you can't even imagine a universe devoid of perspective. Devoid ...

These are products of human intelligence. Whether they can be understood in physicalist terms, then, begs the question. The basic problem with that me...

What do you think the physical equivalent of such a unifying principle might be? What analogy from the physical sciences might provide a model?

Sure. ‘Go on, ask me anything!’ Couldn’t have been scripted better if the Government had set it up,

It’s not information, only my opinion, so if someone sets me straight I’ll change my view. But that’s how it seems to me..,,