What, then, is the natural explanation for 'exquisite talent'? How could a Darwin have predicted, say, a Mozart? What precedents are there among the a...
In which case, they're talking about different things. The identity is the persona, taken from the Greek word for the dramatis personae, the mask acto...
I understand the word 'soul' to mean 'the totality of the being' - as suggested by sayings such as 'body, mind and soul'. it's not a precisely definea...
Aristotle's understanding was, as I understand it, more along the lines of 'the unitive principle'; he was not a dualist, in that he didn't believe it...
The point about the 'dark matter' example is this: the current cosmological model is that dark matter/energy accounts for 96% of the known universe. T...
Scientists now realise that something unknown is holding the Universe together, because it doesn't behave as it ought to, according to their theories....
You'll get a hundred different answers here, but never mind. In Western culture, a long time back, a division was made between 'mind' and 'matter', wh...
I can just imagine the conversation: 'Jim, we don't we nuke him? Pumped up little prick, doesn't he know who he's messing with? Yes....I know the Chin...
The 'inside vs outside' or 'immanent vs transcendent' division doesn't have to be understood in terms of a sky-father, indeed in Platonist philosophy ...
By definition, a first cause is not 'sensible', insofar as by definition it is not perceptible by sense. All of these arguments are broadly speaking r...
So, Trump, having been ferociously criticizing 'leakers', is now leaking! The Guardian (and various other sites). More evidence that Trump doesn't und...
It was clear enough, but my question stands. You say that 'dividing the world into things that don't begin and things that do' is a 'sneaky rhetorical...
I didn't major in psych, but met my future wife there, which has to count for something. My take is, it's a very soft skill set, meaning it's possible...
hey fishfry, what kinds of things exactly don't 'begin to exist'? I think if you look at any object in the known universe, then all of them 'began to ...
What does Kim Jung Un want? Does he want to start WWIII and have his nation and rule destroyed in the process? Or does he think that the world will fo...
It is an argument that I read somewhere once - linked from a Forum post. Basically the gist was, if the universe had existed eternally, then everythin...
That is mainstream Christian doctrine. Furthermore Christians would add that the Biblical narratives constitute evidence, which is why they're called ...
There are two problems - yes, his policies are dreadful, particularly concerning climate policy and environment protection. But his general incompeten...
One of the nuggets I picked up over lunch-time reading is that the total percentage of the electorate that thinks Trump ought to be impeached, is a gr...
The problem under discussion in this particular thread is that the most powerful nation-state on the planet has elected a mendacious narcissist with n...
None of the traditional 'proofs of God' were ever intended as 'proofs' in the sense understood by modern or analytic philosophy. They were primarily e...
Agree with Apokrisis. If you take a broader view some or much of what is described as 'unconscious' is not really so, it's more like 'pre-verbal' or b...
I think the real point of all of these style of arguments can only be understood if you consider what is the nature of the kind of causation that is b...
An OP from today's NY Times: Many Politicians Lie. But Trump Has Elevated the Art of Fabrication. A few stand outs: the Ordination Crowd lie, the Ille...
Basically you're trying to find meaning in the physical processes of procreation. I think you have a sense of their being more to life than that, but ...
Those who subscribe to 'natural law' ethics believe that norms aren't simply a matter of convention but are real independently of convention. Social c...
The question that always occurs to me it that if the universe is indeed 'a computation', then who made the computer? It sounds obviously like an argum...
Dennett helped invent it. Philosophical dualism has a pretty bad reputation, although I happen to think that it's often misunderstood. IN any case, as...
The Origins of Unhappiness: A New Understanding of Personal Distress by David Smail Link: http://a.co/1GQHEYr Looks a reasonable approach. The Buddhis...
It's a very deep question. It's worth recalling that 'the pursuit of happiness' is written into the US constitution. Some years back, my wife bought a...
Well, that's a good start. 'Reductionism' generally is trying to explain a higher-level phenomenon in terms of its lower level components; typically a...
I think a lot of people lack any kind of framework to even consider this question from any perspective other than the biological. That's what we're se...
Always comes back to insults in his/her case. Apparently they are a product of 'unconscious brain mechanisms', so there's not much point arguing with,...
The problem of 'evolutionary ethics' revolves around the question as to whether, as humans are the products of evolution, then ethical actions and jud...
It's more a matter of judging whether to waste my time on some posters, who are likely to dive into an argument with many unquestioned assumptions, an...
You're welcome, Thanatos. You have no idea of how happy it makes me to be able to cast light on your greatness! That's a really good illustration of w...
That is the dogma that is the question this thread is exploring. The fact that you have swallowed it to the point you can't even see what it is anymor...
Comments