You are viewing the historical archive of The Philosophy Forum.
For current discussions, visit the live forum.
Go to live forum

andrewk

Comments

When we criticise the use of a certain word or phrase, we are not criticising the language as a whole, just that particular use of it. There's no inco...
March 03, 2018 at 04:09
I think they only hope that the operation succeeds. Even if there is a right way to transplant a heart, doing it that way does not guarantee success, ...
March 02, 2018 at 07:48
I suppose what I can't see is what philosophical work you see the notion of Objectivity doing. What do we get from calling mathematics Objective that ...
March 02, 2018 at 04:02
Nation states are not trusted with guns. It is just a fact that they have them, and there is nothing we can do about it. A country could unilaterally ...
March 02, 2018 at 01:10
If 'objective' is interpreted as meaning 'in some sense reliant on human minds' then my belief that 1+1=2 is not an objective belief, because it is ba...
March 02, 2018 at 00:54
The recognition of a pattern of light and dark as an instance of a particular symbol is made explicit in the coding of optical character recognition s...
March 01, 2018 at 03:04
The Alan Watts website makes one part-lecture of about 15 minutes available per week, available as a free podcast through podcasting services. You can...
March 01, 2018 at 02:58
All of which are included in the requirements and obligations of owning a motor vehicle, at least where I live.
February 27, 2018 at 23:42
A little light relief: Apparently President Trump's idea that to solve gun crime all you have to do is arm everybody else is not new. This clip is fro...
February 27, 2018 at 22:22
That's not the question you asked. You asked 'can I stab you?', and I answered that question by saying that I would not mind, as long as you succeeded...
February 26, 2018 at 20:35
I'm afraid that line makes no sense to me at all. If you have an argument to make, please make it and I'll do my best to respond respectfully.
February 26, 2018 at 20:23
Fie. Only a few posts ago you were complaining - justifiably, I felt - that people had not responded philosophically to your ideas and were just dismi...
February 26, 2018 at 05:02
Hello. Well done for acknowledging that it is possible to believe that human life begins at conception but personhood does not. That is the position o...
February 26, 2018 at 03:56
No. It's a metaphysical interpretation. Metaphysical interpretations are untestable and unfalsifiable, and hence of no relevance to discussion of publ...
February 25, 2018 at 10:23
It is your point. It is not a point that anybody else cares much about, because other people care about whether protection is provided, not about whet...
February 23, 2018 at 10:02
So far as I can see, nobody has said any such thing. You are the first to mention 'dignity'. It is up to you to make the case that it is a universal h...
February 22, 2018 at 06:01
The inconsistency is between the two sides, not within either of them, which is what one would expect in most debates about most subjects. The pro-gun...
February 22, 2018 at 00:42
Read your own post. In para 5 it says: We are not going to agree on that. If whether somebody actually helps you is less important to you than whether...
February 21, 2018 at 01:40
I think this exemplifies a flaw in the English language. I read Cava's statement as meaning 'invisible to each other' - ie their skin colour is invisi...
February 20, 2018 at 11:31
"Right to sue" is irrelevant guff that, like the book's title, is simply designed to pump sales. All that matters is: in what proportion of incidents ...
February 20, 2018 at 05:15
It is not intended to indicate that, but rather to just distinguish those that practice science from those that make a gilded idol of it. People curre...
February 20, 2018 at 02:16
What if we returned to the pre-nineteenth century label of 'Natural Philosopher' for people that Do science, and left 'Scientist' for those that worsh...
February 20, 2018 at 00:45
In mathematics, a successful definition is one that has the following properties: 1. It is unambiguous. It leaves no room for argument or even discuss...
February 19, 2018 at 23:40
I think you and I agree that Coyne's view, and that of many others like him, is simplistic, dogmatic and unimaginative. It is the view of adherents of...
February 19, 2018 at 23:29
In general, evidence has shown there is not such a need. Governments introduce buyback programs where there is a limited time frame in which owners of...
February 19, 2018 at 21:24
I already covered this above. We DO outlaw the use of certain types of cars on the road that are particularly dangerous and for which there is no pers...
February 19, 2018 at 21:16
Based on @"Michael"'s poll here, only 35% of respondents at this forum were non-skeptical realists, and only 30% were physicalists, so I think Nagel i...
February 19, 2018 at 11:35
No, but we require somebody to have a licence to drive a car, and we take it away if they are caught driving while intoxicated, or if they are judged ...
February 19, 2018 at 07:04
'maybe'?!? Come on, be serious. That 'maybe' is nonsense. Unless he were a ninja, it is inconceivable that he would have killed anywhere near as many ...
February 19, 2018 at 02:51
What is the relevance of statements like this and this It looks like an undiluted use of the Nirvana Fallacy. If that's not what you're doing, what po...
February 19, 2018 at 02:00
While I don't share Kant's willingness to say what is going on in other people's heads, it at least seems plausible to me that people share a common g...
February 19, 2018 at 01:07
I'm very happy to go along with your definition of reality as the phenomena rather than the noumena as, not being a materialist, that is the idea of r...
February 18, 2018 at 21:57
I don't agree with the 'In principle it could' claim before this. But I find this quoted bit much more interesting, so I'd like to explore that instea...
February 18, 2018 at 10:59
That doesn't follow. The difference between a perfectly flat space and one that is curved very, very slightly would make no difference at all to the a...
February 18, 2018 at 10:17
Oh, do you mean the OP is just your opinion? In that case there's nothing to argue about. It would be very presumptuous of anybody to tell you that wh...
February 18, 2018 at 03:31
I like the Guardian but I wouldn't use it as a source in a debate because, although it has enormously greater integrity than the Mail, gun enthusiasts...
February 18, 2018 at 02:10
That relates to a claim about one religion that was made part way down the thread. But you still have your OP sitting there consisting of two unsuppor...
February 18, 2018 at 01:53
Skepticism is inimical to your position in this situation. You have made two claims in the OP. The skeptical position is to doubt any claim. Your clai...
February 18, 2018 at 00:27
For some adherents of some religions, sure. But for all adherents of all religions? I doubt it.
February 17, 2018 at 23:44
This sounds an interesting avenue to explore. As I recall our discussion of a few days ago, you are conscious of its necessity, and I am conscious of ...
February 17, 2018 at 23:17
Not being British you would not be aware of this. But quoting the Daily Mail as a source has about the same credibility as quoting a Trump tweet. That...
February 17, 2018 at 23:07
You have a knack for story-telling, getting people emotionally invested in your narrative. I'm feeling really cross about that clerk right now.
February 16, 2018 at 22:12
Cash in cash registers can be reconciled against sales. If he puts $5000 in the register without recording a sale on it, there will be a $5000 discrep...
February 16, 2018 at 21:59
Indeed. It made my day.
February 16, 2018 at 21:30
Didn't he get a receipt upon payment of the money? The OP does not mention whether he does, but only a fool would pay such an amount without immediate...
February 16, 2018 at 21:13
I don't think that's a reasonable paraphrase of the sign. This version refers only to the present, and whether, at the time the reader is reading the ...
February 16, 2018 at 21:04
I wonder if any of the other Others in Perceptual Experience clicked that because, like me, they didn't know what any of the named terms meant.
February 16, 2018 at 07:52
I think the following incorporates your amendment: \forall t2\ \forall t1\Bigg(\bigg(Pays(C,5000,t1) \wedge (t1+1\gt t2 \gt t1)\bigg)\to OwnsDiamond(C...
February 16, 2018 at 03:41
I don't agree that those adjustments are necessary but, for the sake of furthering the discussion I'll accept them. Here's a version where t2 strictly...
February 16, 2018 at 00:45
The above post is much shorter than your statement of the problem in the OP! If you disagree with it, with which bit do you disagree?
February 15, 2018 at 22:01