Manuel

Wow, you guys/gals have really kept this thing alive, I'm quite glad. Pertinent to this discussion is the apparent fact that Netanyahu might finally l...

For all the problems it has as a country, and every country has problems that's evident, I sure am jealous of people living there. Sure, I've seen som...

Ah cool, keep me updated on that, it will be interesting to read.

Insert good reasons in my head.

Sure. I am not sure that I phrased the last part quite well. Russell was not giving primacy to the mind, I think he was highlighting our general ignor...

In general that the "new physics", as it was when Russell wrote about these topics, renders the ideas of objects as not being tenable. He thought we s...

I was reading some of your replies, quite interesting. You work in/with quantum physics? If you go through some of Russell's works such as The Analysi...

And I'd gladly participate if it didn't include Gödel. I'm sure other threads will appear that will offer the opportunity to highlight a problem in la...

I've read very little Austin. And mathematical logic is something I cannot do at all, it's beyond me I'm afraid. The only philosophy of language I can...

I mean if you can incorporate this topic to Susan's Haack's "Innocent Realism", then the thread can stay of topic as it concerns the nature of reality...

It's an interesting question. I suppose you'd have to take into consideration the fact that fictional characters are created based on traits that real...

Most times yes, sure. I think there are specific circumstances that a song or a movie will communicate with you even more deeply than words ever could...

We can communicate with our gestures, our clothing, our way of walking, our facial expressions, our tone, etc. We can also communicate with paintings,...

I'm not saying it's a contradiction. I think it's a fact that it's people who refer, not words themselves. I think we might be caught in a semantic qu...

That's probably more accurate to what happens. I don't think names refer. Nor do words actually. People refer, it's an act that people do. Sometimes p...

Sure. I wasn't intending to imply a contradiction. I suppose it's a bit of paradox if you will. Yes, I'm familiar with Kripke to an extent. I do think...

I think that we recognize objects via something called "psychic continuity", similar I suppose to object permanence. That is, we have some conception ...

:up:

I have no problems with 3 of the 4 categorizations you've given. The first one, or "0" is the one that I'm unclear of, which one of those mentioned wo...

Hmmm. Sounds like a process philosophy of sorts. I'd be interested in looking at that book. :cool: That looks likely. Then by definition illusions are...

That's also look legitimate to me, perhaps even central. Quine I believe does not like this solution, but we can speak of "real" and "existent" as sep...

Sure. I'd imagine that if we were miniscule creatures we could see these fields, that's what I imagine a commitment to some kind of realism entails, w...

Well, I'm speaking to the heavens here. I've been asked to state how metaphysics is possible. Such a formulation entails a Kantian framework. I'm unsu...

The whole idea of this thread was prompted by a suggestion made by Banno. He seemed to be implying that a lot of these questions are due to a confusio...

There's much more to reality that highlighting one aspect alone. Granted, physics is quite amazing and if not the, then its among the most important i...

Yes. I think that there is not much difference between science and magic, for example. Sure, someone will say "we understand science", magic doesn't e...

I'm aware that you know Kant well, other people told me this and I've since verified it. I don't expect agreement in many aspects on these topics, how...

Thank you.

X meaning any specific concept. It could stand for laptops, trees, rivers, books, this was shorthand. The person who first thought of an abacus had to...

Fantastic. Many thanks. I'm going to have to read that essay now. :cheer: I don't see the need for an infinite regress. We just need the concept and t...

Sorry about the mess in replies, there are several posts on different topics with you and I lost the order, hah. I too have gone astray here on subjec...

So tell me something, any updates at all regarding more literature on innate ideas? I'm now going to the pragmatists, but they don't say much about it...

You need a concept to recognize an object as being X= laptop, tree, etc. One can know a lot about how to fix an a car, but have no idea how the thing ...

Someone pointed out some very basic notions of counting, such that 1+1 = 2. But nobody was taught how to count all the numbers we can count. There isn...

I have thought about it and I agree with the first part. Putting aside things like facts in history and the like, I don't think we learn things. Rathe...

Here we entirely agree. :up: Fair enough. If we didn't have a concept of a laptop, we couldn't come up with it in the first place. What was the person...

Stated like this, I don't have a problem. Only one last question on this topic: would you say the mind is made of physical stuff?

I think that laptops were designed by a person before he had the physical object in the world. So there was no laptop prior to the first one.

Ah, got it. Thanks. I've been miss-speaking, which is why talking to people like you is good for me. I should use the word "physical stuff" instead of...

The concept of a laptop is in your head, but not the object you are typing on, that's in the world. It carries some connotation related to faith. I do...

I believe so. The more time passes the more calories you lose. I don't see the connection. It's complex in details, or at least Sellar's account of it...

He is difficult for everybody. It's just that some people spend more time with him and likely understand him better. I am not one of those. The good t...

My example was bound to be controversial. I don't think I could come up with an uncontroversial example. I think you said it: "seemingly unrelated" - ...

I'm aware this topic enters into the whole realism vs anti-realism debate. I would still be careful in saying that the stuff posited by science is a m...

Sure. No problem. If I had to be repeating my views on this topic for 5 years, I'd be hesitant to repeat myself again. :up:

Yes and that approach makes sense. I suppose what's left if empirical evidence is not available, is to rely on the plausibility of the arguments. But ...

It's Sellars distinction. I think it's a good one. Manifest reality deals with mental entities. Science, if our theories are correct, deal with mind-i...

They both play a role. I think the problem here is to ask how do neurons relate to a willed action of raising my arm. I can hit my shoulder at a parti...

I see your point and it is valid to a large extent. Let me see if I can work around the definition issue by offering example of topics which are consi...

That's already a difficult question, with different people taking metaphysics to mean different things. As I understand it metaphysics is the study of...