Wayfarer

It seems a rather cheap way of deflating the issue at hand. When he says: There seems a suggestion of 'vitalism' - that 'meaning' might be thereby con...

Well, arguably, what happened to all that essence and substance talk, was that it was transformed into the basis for modern science. I was reading abo...

Because, I think, modern philosophy on the whole doesn't want anything to do with essence, substantia, or any of those medieval scholasticisms. The wo...

No, I don't agree that we're just animals. From the viewpoint of biological evolution, that is true. But when we developed language skills, story-tell...

Animals don't have language. They have calls.

Very roughly, the whole question of 'essence' goes back to Parmenides - both the philosopher of that name, and the Platonic dialogue concerning the sa...

telling comment. (Of course, 'the real world' is what exists unperceived by the mind, right?)

...trying to work out when the death occured, and what was the cause.... :wink:

Yes, the gluten-free variety. (I have experience....)

I'm interested in the fact that Elizabeth Anscombe, who's papers you have quoted previously here, was one of Wittgenstein's succesors at Cambridge, an...

These types of schools are initiatory. Which means, what they teach is given in a context, by being initiated or inducted into them, which requires an...

C'mon now. A lot of what you've just been saying sounds exactly like that. Of course there is. There are those that realise the state of spiritual lib...

It is! Nothing said here alters my view in the slightest. The development and launch of the COVID-19 vaccines is a triumph of science and public medic...

the remaining one percent are members of various parliaments and other representative parties.

It's more a matter of only including what can be quantified, prefereably in line with the paradigmatic model provided by physics.

...as if that is a good thing! 'Close your eyes and swallow the medicine! Everything will be fine, trust me!'

:up: It's quite an interesting essay, very perceptive, in my opinion. I've read it right through a couple of times. (Here's the link again). What inte...

I see you've progressed from cups. Impressive.

Don't you constantly say that metaphysics is 'like poetry'? Moving but not a sufficient basis for knowledge?

Actually that brings up something I wanted to discuss. The Christian faith says salvation is open to all who believe. Christianity is said to be a 'un...

Maybe Alien Sonar Mary would know what it is like to be a bat.

Thanks for the considered reply, although I think it's still rather 'argumentum ad lapidem'. But I will leave off for now and think about it some more...

Well I'm glad it is at least funny.

And if it sounds religious, then the grounds for rejecting it are self-evident. Reviews I have read have been scathing. His views are not philosophica...

That Nagel essay I mentioned is relevant, and also his book Mind and Cosmos, particularly chapter 4 'Cognition', notably because he's not necessarily ...

It's not logic that is the problem, but appealing to evolutionary biology to rationalise it. Alvin Plantinga's 'evolutionary argument against naturali...

:up: Point well made.

yes well sometimes their absence also makes itself reasonably clear. There's a true saying, 'you can't fake talent'. I agree that pattern recognition ...

Right. I've never watched a reality TV show. I watch news and current affairs, but also my fair share of streaming drama, mostly detective and police ...

You do sound like you're lecturing here. Who are you referring to? I think there are philosophers and even scientists who have a clear understanding o...

TV is not called 'the idiot box' for nothing. OK I watch my fair share, although I'm old enough to remember it being introduced. But overall popular m...

But that is due to the innate ability which is unique to human children. Some animals can recognise up to about 2-3, but I think the point stands. In ...

Take it or leave it. But looking at the dire history of conflict and intra-religious persecution in Christianity hardly supports that idea. It's not a...

There are plenty of vocal and harsh critics of Trump, but not many have captured the public imagination. Trump was manufactured by television. That's ...

Many Christians would never claim to know God directly. The emphasis is on faith, believing in the Word, acting in accordance with the moral precepts ...

Yeah and there's a big bad wolf under your bed, so watch out. I see no alternative Trumps on the horizon. Nor, regrettably, much by way of anti-Trumps...

‘They have a name for the winners in the world I want a name when I lose They call Alabama the Crimson Tide Just call me Deacon Blues’ ~ Steely Dan, D...

Why? If they do, then they're missing the point, and the target.

I do understand your perplexity about this point. Earlier you said: It is empirically obvious and furthermore, true, that these are persistent objects...

It is 2 that I am calling into question. It puzzles me that you apparently cannot grasp that basic distinction. More to the point, with respect to mat...

You asked me the question about there being five spoons a few pages back. You said The point that I'm trying to make is that the table that ostensibly...

Just remind me, which President lost his party the Senate, the Congress, and the White House, after only one term? Don't fall for the illusion that he...

He'll ride in on a flying pig and open the world's first fission reactor.

Right! That I agree with.

Jung wrote of 'voluntary suffering'. I take that expression to mean the recognition of the inevitability of suffering in life and the willingness to b...

Agree. This is really bad. It’s about as bad as when the Australian conservatives disemboweled our working effective carbon tax for political reasons,...

Graham Priest seems the go-to for all this kind of material. See this review. Somehow, Banno, I think this might be of interest to you.

I still think Betrand Russell nailed it in a nutshell. 'Physics is mathematical not because we know so much about the physical world, but because we k...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9XW-NzBS1w/Uy7ZhartxcI/AAAAAAAAADQ/RGarg2NWDwg/s1600/relativity.jpg

From your #2 /uploads/resized/files/dr/sn50sjzrsu77ps5u.png Notice the difference between 3 and 5. 3 is scientific realism, today's realism, what peop...