Janus

NNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, that's a convincing argument! Just in case you were not aware, I am not in any way arguing for platonism. I am arguing that our notions of ident...

Got it! The instruction mean, not the humour....yet. :lol: Actually I think I do almost get it now, but I won't attempt to explain, it because that wo...

I don't believe we could "forgo those abstractions" and still discuss what we seem to be attempting to discuss. I haven't said that it would or would ...

Not quite sure what you mean, but it sounds comedic. :lol:

I wasn't asking about general relevance, but about relevance to the discussion of identity and difference. And how do we do that without relying on th...

So, what relevance do they have? Can we determine them or not? That is something I have wondered myself many times; and even more I wonder why I conti...

I don't see any relevance in what you say here. In any case if ontological facts cannot be determined by us, what bearing could they have on our notio...

I don't understand why you say that if duty is a principle then laws or rules should be derivable from it. I cannot see what else it could be but a pr...

And how would you determine that it hasn't changed?

So, when is a particular object that particular object then? Only during the dimensionless point instant; which is to say never? Because there is no "...

I'm not making any substantive or metaphysical claims about abstract objects. All I'm saying is that logically speaking, for example, 2 is always prec...

Rubbish; a mental act is not an abstraction, "a mental act" is an abstraction. You seem to be deeply confused about this, so I'm not sure I'll be able...

Perhaps not in your deluded fantasy...

Abstractions are identical over time. Abstractions are not subject to change. The only thing that changes in relation to an abstraction are its expres...

I can't see why that could not be paraphrased as " than duty may serve as the principle that justifies those determinations." I do agree that duty can...

Yes and it is a duty in principle. There is no duty in actuality where no no duty in principle is adhered to, except where a duty is enforced. Morals ...

So, now you say there is a "you" across time, but that there are no persistent entities at all. Yeah, that makes sense, no contradiction there! To say...

A moral duty as opposed to a legally enforced duty. It could be argued that in principle laws should never be broken, because in principle laws are mo...

So, according to you there is nothing that distinguishes you from any other entity across the span of your life? In fact there is no you at all that h...

The something that changes remains the thing that changes, otherwise all coherence of discourse would be lost. You are reifying abstract nonsense when...

For me the difference between UFOs and Rebirth is that evidence for the former can, if it exists, be directly observed. That doesn't mean it will be o...

Of course I wouldn't disagree, but in any case it's irrelevant to what I have been saying. You have not provided a single argument against anything I ...

If there is something that changes then there must also be something that remains the same. You are reifying the abstract stipulation that if somethin...

Then why are you continuing to disagree?

Yes, but that is the problem, so if you understand that, then why do you criticize science for not allowing the kind of evidence it cannot rigorously ...

I can't rule that possibility out altogether, but I don't see much evidence in favour of believing it to be so. As far as i know the conflict between ...

Do you say that "duty" is only in principle, or do you say that a law should never be broken?

I think you are misunderstanding the problem. The problem is that science doesn't, in principle, accept anecdotal evidence. There are inherent problem...

No, the reason such "theories" are rejected is not a priori, unless you think that it is a priori the case that they cannot be rigorously tested. Ther...

Stop being mean! :naughty:

I agree with this; but I think the persistence of identity over time is possible, coherent and actual on account of the fact that the serial dimension...

Of course it is logically and epistemologically possible that there are sentient beings on other planets. But if the conditions for the advent of sent...

You claim that there can be no "same thing" from T1 to T2. But if T1 is of arbitrary span then, within that span, of course there can be. Your argumen...

Yes, I would say the situation could also be, to some degree at least, as you paint it here.

What you say here ignores the fact that the Jews had been a more or less tolerated religious subculture in Europe for well over a thousand years. The ...

Of course the notions of possibility exist only in discourse, and can be applied as they are relative to our knowledge within our models, but whether ...

I don't deny that there is no hard and fast definition of community (or anything else!). But I would suggest that most people know just who would coun...

But are you not saying that they are the ones who are prejudiced by their (unexamined?) view that these ideas are "outlandish"? I mean is not the impl...

If laws are only in principle reflective of the will of the community then breaking them is only in principle immoral. But actual laws may not reflect...

Yes, but as I said in a previous conversation with you; there is no evidence that the whole, or even most of, the community approved of those things. ...

@"creativesoul" seems to be particularizing the question; do I have another specifically in mind when I am morally deliberating (he says "ethically", ...

:rofl: A good friend of mine who is self-admittedly addicted to masturbation, says that it is training for being able to delay ejaculation when involv...

As I said somewhere else I don't consider ethical and moral pertinence to be necessarily coterminous. The difference for me would be something like: E...

I would say that moral principles always come from others and are always and only pertinent to relationship with an other or others. Perhaps there are...

If you said you did, it would mean you did have such a memory or memories, given that you answered honestly. I was merely asking out of curiosity, but...

I'm familiar with Greer's writings in the ecological context; the slow-motion collapse of industrial civilization and all that! The thing is I have be...

Oh dear, how disappointing; I was hoping to exclude you in. :joke:

I find that I can't believe anything that I don't have really solid evidence for, which means that I can only believe the things that I have observed ...

I agree with that, but whatever is acquired there could never provide a really good reason for anyone else to believe anything. Also, you should alway...