Wayfarer

I think it is far too sweeping to say that Kant, Spinoza and Hegel 'all rejected the supernatural'. There are books on 'Hegel the mystic'; Kant said t...

Do you think ‘the domain of natural numbers’ is ‘a realm’? Because, I’m inclined to believe that it is a realm or a domain - but that those descriptio...

Well after a lot of soul-searching, I think I do accept the reality of sin, although I know it's a tremendously unpopular view to take. I am a Buddhis...

None taken. I found Landru pretty frustrating myself. That's more or less what I meant. The 'privileged access' is the presumption that science is the...

Plainly, as you and I have been debating basically the same question for about 6 years. X-)

Thereby viewing philosophical questions through the perspectives of the biological sciences, which in turn assume scientific realism.

Actually if you look at the Platonic dialogues, that is their main concern; they're often concerned with knowledge of virtue, justice, courage and oth...

I generally refer to criticisms of Dennett (which are not hard to find) as arguments for why materialist theories of mind are doomed to fail. When you...

The Catholic definition of conscience: From here. It does seem at least implicit in this conversation.

Stimulus and response are different to language and abstraction. It has been said that ‘intelligence is the ability to make distinctions’. There are s...

As far as ‘design’ goes, I find the common view of the ‘appearance of design’ deeply unconvincing. One of the implications of this view is that the on...

I see nothing to comment on. It is as it is, could have been otherwise. Whatever.

We've invented nuclear weapons, and calculated the age and size of the Universe, by such 'sorting and arranging.' On the basis of what is quoted, I do...

The warm little pond. Well, the quote is from Thomas Nagel - you may or may not be familiar with him, but he's a respected philosopher, a rare breed i...

I’m practically in agreement, my only caveat being that ‘harm’ has to amount to something more than pain or injury, otherwise the principle amounts to...

You might explain for us hoi polloi how indistinguishable things can be counted, because we would have thought that distinguishing something is a prer...

didn’t all philosophy start off as direct realism?

didn’t say you should, I’m simply trying to articulate it.

Important point. The consequences of Cartesian dualism, the apparently neat division of 'the world' into mind and matter, are one of the major factors...

Thanks. I am an admirer of Nagel also, and often bring up that book on the Forum. I also like his book The Last Word, which contains an essay on Evolu...

On the contrary - the philosophical problem posed by the ‘observer problem’ and by the ‘fine-tuned Universe’ argument, is in part the motivation for t...

I don't think you're seeing the point, but then it's a really big issue. It's not so much 'design' that is at stake, but 'intentionality'. In the olde...

I wouldn't worry, just thinking aloud.

Not magical - simply the terminus of explanation. The short version: the ‘many worlds theory’ is based on avoiding the philosophically unsavoury impli...

Beautiful verse, BC. So, I agree, in that I think the distinctively human trait is to reflect on beauty, and to wonder at it. I can’t see how birds co...

Don’t ask me, ask Daniel Dennett.

Many physicalists will of course acknowledge that you don’t study organisms through physics, but they will nevertheless insist that ultimately all of ...

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I’m answering the question the OP title poses :-} What it means to say ‘something is physical’ is to say that it is what is defined or studied by phys...

Physics being ‘the science of the physical’.

you mean, defining physicalism in terms of physics is circular? You have a better idea?

I tried being a mod once, was hopeless. Too Libran - tried to mediate rather than simply patrol. Lasted 24 hours. Oh and second Baden above. it’s quit...

I mean, ‘what is physical’ are the objects, forces, and related phenomena, that are the subject of analysis and investigation by physics.

Physical = defined in terms of physics. There have been times when that was thought to be straightforward. Not so much now, though.

I do freelance mod things. Like when I see OPs which I think are beyond the pale, or advertising, or obvious trolling, I’ll report them. We can all he...

This is true. First of all there was a blanket denial, and then news of the Donald Jnr meeting came out, and it was like 'oh, that. Well that wasn't i...

That image imparts no information. When I somewhat facetiously asked you to ‘send me a mental image’ it was just to make the point that you can’t, bec...

If you're referring to this: Then I would dispute that, as being too weak. There might be the ethical equivalent of victimless crimes, that is, acts w...

Agree! It's the ambiguity which makes it interesting.

this thread IS pasta salad.

As to why something is or is not moral, I don't think the question can be meaningfully answered outside of a meaningful normative framework, whether t...

I think there's a big issue lurking here with respect to the nature of 'objectivity' and it's application to ethical questions. It's a hard idea to ar...

Maybe not. Maybe science will never explain the various constants, the 'six numbers' that purportedly underlie everything. Maybe the attempt to explai...

That quote you mention was from a piece by, or about, Rolf Landauer. I found it because I am interested in the provocative idea that information is no...

Great! Well if you have a mental image which is physical, please mail it to me, I'd like to see it.

Very well-written OP. I am interested in the theory that the historical origins of scepticism go back to Pyrrho of Elis who is said to have travelled ...

I myself am not Catholic, but their views are quite philosophically compatible with mine. I see Aquinas as exemplifying a school of the perennial phil...

Ask yourself why it’s a problem that needs solving.

Really you’re not showing any understanding of the topic. You kind of join in, I try and explain it, and then you attempt to dismiss the argument on t...

Is that related to this point? DOES THE MULTIVERSE REALLY EXIST? (cover story). By: Ellis, George F. R. Scientific American. Aug2011, Vol. 305 Issue 2...