Wayfarer

Sorry to let you down (as I seem to so often do). Try Sheldrake's morphic resonance. That is the nearest thing to a 'mechanism' or cause. But you're r...

Well, of course it’s true that karma comprises a causal link between action and result. But that wasn’t elaborated in terms of the fourfold causation ...

I don't think so. The word itself, 'karma', comes from the root 'kr-' which is derived from the word for 'hand' and has taken on the meaning of 'work'...

One of the anecdotes I remember from the popular science book, Supernature, is that oysters kept in a tank in the bottom of a mine, in the middle of t...

Source.

You seem to have said more than once in this thread that 'the tree' is emblematic of 'living things generally' and that, as 'trees' seem to be somethi...

:ok:

Do you think that plant life is representative of all forms of life, or that there might be attributes and characteristics that animals and humans tha...

I agree with you - having those examples helps. Perhaps what you’re looking for is something like a normative framework, which is almost the same thin...

It depends the kind of acts you’re talking about,doesn’t it? What are some examples of the kinds of acts which require beliefs?

Well, in my experience, one is sometimes picked by beliefs - like, it's not necessarily a matter of choice, what you believe. Sometimes, maybe often, ...

I'd be interested in your take on this blog post; I myself find it quite persuasive, and it is said to be written from the perspective of Aristotelian...

I agree. But I think that the Platonist insight into the reality of incorporeal entities (universals and the like) requires a genuine meta-cognitive s...

I am aware of Lonergan but he's another philosopher who would take a great deal of time to study. (And Lonergan and Maritain are both categorised unde...

It’s only a marker for the key difference between living systems and minerals. Homeostasis is a chraracteristic of even the simplest organic forms but...

Noted

It’s more that he thinks that what passes for philosophy in modern culture is superficial. Here is a simple hierarchy of the different levels of cause...

And then, the question is ‘why’. What is so unpalatable about the irreducible nature of mind? Why is that such a boogeyman? It seems to me an illustra...

No, it’s a matter of definition. I gave one already, from Buddhism. Another would surely be the myth of the Burning Bush and the dispensation of the T...

So, basically, your view is that ‘stuff just happens’. So really there’s nothing to be gained by discussion.

That’s not my invention. 'Reason and revelation' are defined and understood as different domains in philosophy of religion. You can find extensive dis...

I get that, but at the cost of there being many worlds. The MWI advocates here on this forum seem to obfuscate that inconvenient fact. The question I ...

That's not remote from the original meaning. See Aristotle - The Importance of Telos Except for what has been described as 'revelation' - whether Bibl...

So you think human reason is capable of omniscience?

I think there’s a conflation here of two senses of ‘reason’. One being, ‘reason’ in the sense of ‘causation’ - the reason why plants grow towards ligh...

I haven’t heard of any such interpretations. The many worlds interpretation doesn’t say that, but it’s not worth debating, as it can’t be resolved one...

Wheeler did not originate the ‘Many worlds’ thesis. That was the work of his graduate student, Hugh Everett III - here- , although the term ‘many worl...

'Machine - an apparatus using mechanical power and having several parts, each with a definite function and together performing a particular task.' The...

How so? If a spacecraft hurtles out past Neptune, all instruments intact, busily registering lots of data which will never be transmitted to Earth, do...

When we are asking questions about the nature of reason, and indeed the nature of consciousness, they are very different kinds of questions as to thos...

I agree with Strawson's rebuttal, and I do think that Dennett's attitude is fundamentally absurd. To paraphrase: "at present, no single model of consc...

:angry:

For sure - I was reacting, mainly, to the second of the two quotes in the OP: How that struck me was that is was an expression of a kind of suspicion ...

Notice you automatically equate the two - which is of course reasonable. But still questionable. The Greeks, as you say, wouldn’t have thought of it t...

I think a distinction can be made between 'transrational', 'non-rational', and 'irrational'. Reason doesn't have to be omniscient in order to be effec...

The discovery of reason by the Greeks is one of the foundations of philosophy proper, I would have thought. The problem is not reason - I think it's t...

This looks an interesting title; Meditations on Self-Discipline and Failure - Stoic Exercise for Mental Fitness

Philosophy for Life, Jules Evans, a website and also book of that name. Combines elements of stoicism with CBT (although is quite eclectic). Truman Ca...

I generally agree, but I don't know about technology 'cutting through all the noise'. (Although, that said, I'm writing this on a brand spanking new P...

Well, a major part of my meta-narrative is 'institutional religion getting it wrong from the outset'. At the time of the formation of the Church there...

The Number One idea, beyond a shadow of doubt, is- remove Trump from your title, as in the current circumstances, this has most unfortunate connotatio...

Well, the meaning of ‘secular’ was originally to distinguish between religious and secular affairs or powers - back in the day when religious institut...

I will reply more at length, but while the thought is with me - have you ever run across Horkheimer’s book The Eclipse of Reason? It’s about the only ...

I would like to like Pinker - his book The Blank Slate was the last gift I received from my dear departed mother, and I like it. And I do recognise th...

That’s a pretty interesting quotation. From the viewpoint of anthropology of religion, there’s probably a reason why such pursuits are the prerogative...

And it’s not an attribute of numbers, or ideas. Hence, the thread. Some here are saying that these are simply ‘in the mind’ - as if this amounts to an...

Pretty much. The Great Disenchantment.

I am interested in understanding these questions through Western philosophy among other things. And sure, Kant is olde worlde, but his insights into t...

It's not a political programme - it's a philosophical question. I think philosophy was originally about the realisation of a higher identity - hence t...