Wayfarer

Sentimentality, you mean ;-)

Yes the thought occurred that if a professional had been involved, DJT would have been long gone. But many of the usual suspects would rather see him ...

Paul Davies has some writing on that: * The 'baffling regularity' of the universe’s initial conditions, as described by Paul Davies and the astronomic...

Curiously, physics itself is largely mathematical in nature. The standard model of particle physics is understood in purely mathematical terms. But ma...

You've yet to cite any. I agree that these are the definitions of 'rational'. But I'm also saying that rational and conceptual thought and language ar...

I'm sympathetic to this line of thought, probably more so than others. But philosophically speaking, there's an issue with the question of the sense i...

I will definitely have a look at it. That said, I find 17th philosophy quite challenging to read, as the style is difficult. But from what I've read o...

:chin: I thought the issue was what you are calling 'human exceptionalism', that is, you are contesting the view that the human capacity for reason an...

Probably just as well ;-) C'mon. You're making the case, it requires more specifics, don't you think? That chimps are aggressive wasn't the point of t...

I think a case can be made that concepts must be able to be expressed in symbolic form (e.g. linguistic or arithmetical) if they are to be considered ...

Listed on Michael R. Thompson Rare Books for US$4,600 :yikes: It would want to be interesting! (Although that is for a first edition.) Nevertheless I ...

You flatter yourself. You evince no evidence of learning in philosophy beyond a smattering of popular neuroscience.

not before Trump turns it into a souvenir tea-towel and fund-raises off it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/15/republicans-react-appar...

Sure. Interesting idea for discussion but probably another thread.

Our culture and philosophy generally lacks the language within which to interpret the word. It is usually treated as synonymous with religious dogma a...

I presume that shooter understands that he’ll spend most of the rest of his life in federal prison. What a fool.

Right. That's what I've been arguing for, and also, why is it that it seems such a hard thing to grasp. Apparently that makes me a pathological narcis...

Yes, and.....?

I’ve already said, I don’t deny that the so-called higher animals (including some birds) are intelligent. But rationality in the sense h.sapiens posse...

You should have a read of the story of Nim Chimpsky. He was born and raised like a human child with the hope that he could be taught to communicate li...

A couple of paragraphs: Substitute 'soul' with 'mind' and I think Cudworth makes a valid point. None of which vitiates the arguments I've been present...

Ralph Cudworth - right! He was one of the Cambridge Platonists. @"Manuel" has mentioned him several times. I'll read that with interest later.

And I see how you consistently fail to understand mine, probably due to lack of basic education in philosophy and cultural history. The word 'violenti...

I started a thread a while back on something I had read that Descartes used to flay dogs alive, assuring onlookers that their cries of agony were due ...

Nonsense. I don’t see myself as ‘special’. I have presented a specific argument based on a number of sources in this thread. I understand the argument...

Scientific humanism is hardly a fringe movement. It is hugely influential in modern culture. One example is Julian Huxley, of the famous Huxley family...

I'll go into bat for Russell. I still think his HWP is a good initial text for philosophy because of its historical perspective, and even despite many...

Thanks! and to you also.

G E Moore's 'here is one hand' must come close. (Maybe if he could extemporise on the sound it makes, it might be more interesting.)

Firstly, 'God' is not a matter for conceptual thought at all. Of course, you or I might have our 'concepts of God' but what the name signifies or stan...

Incidentally, those last two posts were also addressed to you ;-)

(continued from above)The sense of separateness from nature is, I think, at the heart of the Biblical Myth of the Fall. In that mythological account, ...

There's no post delete function for users on this platform (although mods can delete posts. Incidentally I agree with the points you're putting forwar...

Why does it matter? Because humans literally hold the power of life and death over the whole planet and separately, of many of its species, by what we...

Point taken. I could have picked a better example.

The distinction between h.sapiens and other creatures is something we have to take responsibility for, rather than denying the obvious.

One of the ironies implicit in scientific humanism is that it looses sight of the very thing which enables us to pursue science. My point is that to d...

I think you’re on the right track but needless to say it’s a vast topic.

I don't expect much *modern* philosophy will have any consensus about those questions, as they're deep questions, not the kind of minutae that analyti...

I was wanting to get at the meaning of reason, in particular, which is fundamental to the OP. I've read about the Caledonian crow studies and other st...

I perfectly agree, and so, I’m sure, do millions of Americans. The whole saga has been so totally unlikely from the very beginning. In hindsight, the ...

The two most-quoted memes of the entire Trump-Vance campaign are now ‘childless cat ladies’ and ‘pet-eating immigrants’. And that’s really the best th...

The computer chip industry understands hylomorphism very well. Why? Because there's the chip designers, and the chip fabricators, and nowadays they're...

That is part of Trump's reasoning, and I don't accept it. Believing that it's hopeless plays into his hands. Anyhow, I'm still convinced that Trump/MA...

Yes, I’ve read about Caledonian crows.

I don't much like Discord. I tried to accept the invite but then it or me got confused because I have an already existing Discord account under a diff...

That’s an interesting point. I’ve read a little of Father Andrew Louth’s ‘Christian Mysticism: An Introduction to the Tradition*. Father Louth address...

Apparently, only Haitian immigrants, and only in Springfield Ohio. If you live elsewhere, you can breathe easy. The debate was much as I expected. Tru...

:100: I think that was broadly characteristic of many of the Axial Age philosophies both East and West.

I agree. I think there’s a difference between behaviours that can be accounted for in terms of stimulus and response, and behaviours that can be attri...