Wayfarer

It's philosophical.

You see, it's impossible to argue with someone who defines basic terms, like 'identity','reason', and so on, so as to play games on a computer. And th...

Would you agree that if two people put coins in a vending machine, and got out the same snack food the outputs would be identical? Would you agree tha...

Anyway, that claim is wrong on my view. Why?

The argument is that the information and the representation are different. So, typically, rather than dealing with the argument, you say, 'I disagree ...

People are always criticizing comments for not being arguments. Well, where's the argument here? Take a proposition that is determinative - the instru...

That's the dilemma of Western civilization in a few words. It ought not to be like that, but there's a reason why it is. You seem to be trying to brid...

From the POV of physics, does any of that exist? No. But this is where the 'epistemic cut' comes in. There is a level of order found in biological sys...

Consciousness is obviously a biological phenomenon. It is spoken about from a biological perspective, but that doesn't mean it can be understood solel...

Interesting question! I suppose in computer science the rules are clear enough, computer language>assembly langage>machine code (something like that, ...

They are all examples of the idea that information and the way the meaning is information is encoded are separable. A more simple example is that you ...

There is a relationship between a code and its meaning. but the relationship is not one of identity for the reasons @Tom has given. Why this is so is ...

I suspect you're young. In any case it seems rather an egocentric view of life. I think the element that is absent in your OP is the sense of somethin...

@Metaphysician Undercover - I am going to create a separate thread on the topic we're discussing, it's a subject in its own right.

that piece Rock Thrush linked to is a traditional American gospel song called Wayfaring Stranger, I think it was a reference to my screen name. I have...

I agree, it is very important to understand that every human being has value. That is actually central to Christian ethics. The central idea of Christ...

I think 'every being has value' is too broad. I think the original saying that you're referencing is 'every human being is an end in themselves', whic...

It isn't a matter of reducing qualities to quantities, but of quantitative measurement. Whenever you wish to subject a question to scientific analysis...

Of course. Hence this discussion. But if I were to refer to any kind of 'objective morality' or 'moral absolute', then that is generally interpreted t...

"Objective" means what it says, i.e. pertaining to or inherent in an object or object of analysis. Colloquially, you might say that a persons objectiv...

Hey Metaphysician Undercover - I know this discussion is between yourself and Sapientia, but I did try and address that very point in this post, refer...

It's a textbook case.

I think it is objectively the case. You recall the long period when Sanders was refusing to concede, and there were a series of debates between he and...

Au contraire, BC, I think they've tried 'smart' and it hasn't worked. Trump won by trying 'dumb' - slogans, fear, hatred, 'the other', anger, doubt, a...

Now that it's happened, I hope all the dire predictions are wrong, that Trump turns out OK. But honestly, apart from hand waving and talk about 'harne...

Michael Moore predicted it correctly in August: http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-election/michael-moore-meet-the-man-who-got-this-election-right-2016110...

Cast your mind back to 2000 when Bush beat Gore by 300 votes. I will always believe, had Gore won, the world would have been better off, not that we'l...

Say goodbye to climate change action, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the bans on drilling and mining in sensitive wildlife areas. Trump is f...

My understanding now (and it constantly evolves) is that the insights preserved in the great philosophical and spiritual traditions represent profound...

I see Trump as 'the triumph of television'. People can't differentiate reality and TV; when Trump waves his arms and says he's going to make America g...

OK, I can concede that point. Say it's something akin to the placebo effect on a large scale; the power of belief to affect medical outcomes. We you m...

They have protocols. The 'Lives of Saints' provide an archive of such materials, what criteria they use to make judgements, and so on, going back hund...

When argument fails, resort to insult, eh TS? That should do the trick.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on 'demagogue': Right on the mark. Note the observation about 'changing democracy into dictatorship'.

You don't know what you're talking about TS. You define words to suit your arguments and then ridicule others for not knowing what you mean. Your post...

It's not logically fallacious, you're just saying that as far as you're concerned, it's unbelievable. You have a 'will not to believe'. Incidentally, ...

Trump succeeded because of the fact that there are many people who are easily fooled.

Another comment from the article: So - science has shown the religious accounts of creation are baloney, because we're piss and not wind! X-)

Right. So the whole thing about 'brain=mind' boils down to whether concepts can be described as being physical. I say not. The arguments are long and ...

I don't know if this is for real, but it's out there. http://www.dynamicdata.com.au/images/IMG_2468.JPG What I said. Although I hope in all this, to b...

I think it's the triumph of television, of appearance over reality. Can't see a single good thing coming out of this, it inverts the exaltation and jo...

I would sign up in a flash to hear lectures from Prof. Pickstock

Everyone I know here in Sydney is scared, shocked and dissappointed. We thought, at the end of the day, the good guys were going to win. Now it looks ...

Kid to Dad (looking downcast and anxious): Don't worry, Dad, if Donald Trump wins, it won't be the end of the world. Dad to Kid: ------ I'm predicting...

The obvious problem is that nobody can agree on what constitutes 'an ethical progrram'. I mean, if you look at politics at this time in history, what ...

The point of the book that I provided a link to, is that it documents the procedures involved in declaring supernatural intervention. Part of these pr...

I agree theology ought not to be taught as part of the curriculum of a secular university, unless under the heading of comparative religion, history o...

Right! This is actually the basis of Hume's famous 'is/ought' problem Which is central to the entire debate about naturalism and ethics. Basically it ...

Where did anyone ask me anything resembling anything in the realm of "Is there actually such a thing as personal identity?" You seem to have forgotten...

In your conversations with csalisbury, you wouldn't acknowledge that there is actually such a thing as 'personal identity', or that it is, at any rate...