Janus

I think it is most important that one feels that life is worth living; whatever one thinks is only important insofar as it impacts on the quality of f...

Sure, I have examined my life and I know that the feelings I already had prior to that examination were what determined whether life was good or not p...

Maybe, but how is the worth of any life to be evaluated if not either by thinking (examining) or feeling? I suppose we try to persuade people that the...

There is no pure pleasure or pure pain, but always some mix of the two. In the case of the 'rape' example I think there can be equivocation as to exac...

You have it all wrong, almost backwards, in my view. There is no need to examine my life and evaluate it as being worth living, I merely have to feel ...

I voted 'no' because a life is worth living if it feels so. It really comes down to what you feel about your life; what you think about it may or may ...

It is because I believe that it is reasonable to think there is a basic kernel of truth in naive realist assumptions insofar as they are pre-reflectiv...

I have some idea of a distinction between naive and other kinds of realist , but no idea at all of a distinction between naive and other kinds of idea...

Quine.

O:) Ha, ha...whoops....

Oh man, now you cast yourself as arbiter of the value of the lives of others! What's next in your litany of arrogation?

This is a way of phrasing the account of the situation that distorts the actuality. It is not the case that the dictator who would rather die than liv...

September 16

Both of you seem to be asserting that Brassier and Stove have misunderstood and misrepresented Berkeley's argument, but neither of you have given an a...

I can't speak to the "average particle physicist's" degree of familiarity with philosophy. But I would not agree that our 'naive' beliefs about "trees...

I don't think of the "objective" as "a view from nowhere" but as an inter-subjective elimination of subjective (hypostatic) elements. Science ( ideall...

Is there actually a good reason to think that science does not deal with such an "objective reality"?

Well, I said "most physicists" not "I", but it is true that I don't see any serious alternative. The fact that I don't see any serious alternative doe...

For me genius (in any work) exists when no one (including the 'creator') really knows how it was brought about.

Impressive effort SX! I would love to be able to read that much! How do you find the time for such voluminous reading? It makes me think you may be a ...

I agree with this and disagree with Caslisbury that any elaboration or 'subtlization' of the master argument could make it any the more plausible. "Th...

I echo Marchesk's response. 'e=mc2' cannot be understood as an empirical statement. It says in ordinary language something like 'energy equals mass mu...

I don't see how what I said is necessarily connected with scientific realism. Basically all I asserted was that "e=mc2" cannot be made sense of as an ...

I would agree with you about the first two examples, which ostensibly speak only to an experience which can be thought to be 'internal' to, in the sen...

Does the phenomenalist say there cannot be any such machinery, or merely claim that we could not know anything about it? Is the internal realist an an...

Does the ant-realist believe that the fact of the appearance of things is independent of what anyone believes and/or experiences? Does s/he believe th...

How far do you want to be able to go in your descriptions of your sexual activity? Do you want to be able to vividly describe everything you and your ...

I think you have a skewed notion of genius, science and painting. It always takes considerable time to see whether particular artists or scientists ha...

Yes, they may do, and that may be because of their limited capacities for understanding and compassion. The onus would be on you to exercise your disc...

You are a terrible (and I think, tendentious) mis-reader. I clearly stated that no private sexual behavior should offend anyone's sensibilities. How c...

I wouldn't oppress you, but others might. They have a right to shun you if you have offended their sensibilities. There is no way to legislate against...

If you are not too embarrassed to shag the dog publicly, and the dog consents to being shagged, then I wouldn't stop you. You would be the main victim...

It's probably not perfectly achievable on the large (or perhaps even on the individual) scale, but as an ideal, yes.

The proper aim of enlightenment in my view is to be above the law, in the sense of no longer thinking that one's behavior be should be prescribed, or ...

They could be required to cosmetically disguised their skin colour or completely cover their faces and bodies with cloth. Women in some cultures are r...

I didn't say that outlawing having black skin, but rather outlawing showing it, would be equivalent to outlawing, not being gay, but expressing it. It...

What you are saying is equivalent to insisting that black people hide their skin colour if they want to enjoy citizenship ( they can't help their skin...

What exactly does "live and let live" mean to you? Also, do you not agree that there is necessarily a limited range "of acceptable values" (when it co...

What I think you are failing to see is that an oppressor is one whose ethics are enforced upon others. For me this is the essence of the right wing ba...

Perverse.

Political allegiances are like tastes for certain kinds of food, or aesthetic taste in general. When you 'argue' with a leftist you each valorize your...

Or joy! Joy to the world! (I so hate that Christmas carol; as though joy is obtainable only from accepting a savior!) Don't worry, be happy! And not j...

Shouldn't you have written "ineffectual discussions"? I agree with Landru; discussion is ineffectual when it comes to these kinds of matters. There is...

The fact that Quantum theory has enabled the development of electronics is an example of a direct application of theory to practice and hence very obv...

I assume that you mean by "ethical implications" something like "implications for living well". According to the standpoint I have arguing against thi...

Did you mean to write 'should not' here db?

Yes, but it's worth noting that science too is (ideally at least) practiced for its own sake and not for any practical benefits that may follow from i...

No, it seems to be your excessive focus on 'being right' that leads to you assume (again, and incorrectly) that my ego is bruised. It's your tendency ...

You are jumping to unwarranted and tendentious conclusions about "what I am invested in" and the degree of my familiarity with "the discipline". On th...

I agree it is true, as some of the criticisms directed at SX claim, that suffering and anxiety is inherent to the human condition. But for me this mis...