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Are there logic systems that are internally consistent that have a different makeup to the logic system that we use?
Richard Heck
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
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On Dan's comment. The distinction between so-called weak counterexamples and strong ones is, of course, important. But it really is possible to prove, in intuitionistic analysis, the negation of the claim that every real is either negative, zero, or positive. The argument uses the so-called... Read more
Why is stupidity not painful?
Alan Soble
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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Why is stupidity not painful? Huh? It is painful. Every time I do something stupid, I feel the searing pain, I wince like a dog hit by a car. Really. This is supposed to help me not do stupid things, like putting my hand in the flame. Doesn't work much, does it? We continue to do stupid things... Read more
If everything so far found in reality has been captured in words, and words are built upon letters which are also a creation of man's imagination, is not everything a construction of the human mind to categorize the world, to make it familar and give it definition? Given that this is true, then are not most if not all philosophical questions (made up of our tools of language) redundant and pointless because they are rendered meaningless by the fact of their imaginary basis? So the only real questions of philosophy should be only those relating to emotions like hunger, satisfaction, pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness? Everything else is metaphysical .... so rights and freedoms, ethics and morality is all relative to the extreme and basically non-sensical. What is the answer?
Peter Lipton
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
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Whenever we talk about representations (and philosophers can't stop talking about them), it is important to distinguish between the representations and the things they represent. Representations, such as sentences and thoughts, are human products, but what they represent need not be. You... Read more
What's the best definition of Nature and its contrast to the supernatural?
Sean Greenberg
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
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In the early modern period, there was considerable debate about the metaphysical status of miracles. Philosophers as different as Hobbes and Malebranche seem to agree, however, that some event is a miracle if and only if it caused by God's willing that that event take place.On this accoun... Read more
Is happiness (eudaemonia) possible?
Jyl Gentzler
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
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The answer to this question will depend on your conception ofhappiness. Not only do different philosophers differ in their viewabout what constitutes happiness (go here),they also have different views about how much of anything thatcontributes to happiness is required before one counts as ha... Read more
Are there logic systems that are internally consistent that have a different makeup to the logic system that we use?
Richard Heck
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
Permalink
On Dan's comment. The distinction between so-called weak counterexamples and strong ones is, of course, important. But it really is possible to prove, in intuitionistic analysis, the negation of the claim that every real is either negative, zero, or positive. The argument uses the so-called... Read more
What's the difference between a philosophy and a religion?
Sean Greenberg
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
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One might mark the difference between philosophy and religion by looking at the different bases given for claims in these two domains. Philosophical claims are justified by arguments, which provide reasons to believe those claims; religious claims need not rest on arguments, but appeal to... Read more
How is this true: .999999999 repeating = 1, I ask you how?
Daniel J. Velleman
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
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See the answer to question 181.
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I'm sure the mathematical anomaly that .999 repeating equals 1 has been brought up, but I was wondering what you think of it. Why is this possible? x=.999 (repeating) therefore 10x=9.999 (repeating) Subtract one x from the 10x 10x=9.999 - x=0.999 and you get 9x=9 divide both sides by 9 x=1 I was wondering if you could explain why this happens. Does it show a flaw in our math system? Or is it just a strange occurrence that should be overlooked? Or is it true?
Daniel J. Velleman
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
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Yes, it is true that .9999... = 1, and there's nothing paradoxical about it. But to see why that is, you need to think about the meaning of decimal notation.Consider a decimal number of the form:0.d1 d2 d3 d4 ...where each of d1, d2, d3, ... is one of the digits from 0 to 9. Of cours... Read more
I teach a sophomore level course at a public university and recently asked two questions on an informal evaluation of the course: How concerned are you with getting all of the points you deserve on every assignment? and How concerned are you with getting more points than others who did less work on every assignment? Students responded with a number on a 7-point scale such that 1 = not at all and 7 = highest priority. I thought the responses to the two questions would be highly correlated and that I could use this information to point out that giving unearned points to one student is unfair to the rest of the class. However, there was almost no correlation between the responses (r=.08), the mean response for the first question was very high (5.8), and the average for the second question very low (2.1). The question: is it possible to make sure every student gets all the points they deserve without also making sure they get more points than students who did less?
Jyl Gentzler
October 14, 2005
(changed October 14, 2005)
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It seems to me that your students’ position is very reasonable on oneunderstanding of what you mean by “less work.” Students come intovarious classes with different levels of preparation and skill, and so,it will take “less work” --i.e. “less effort”-- for some students, forexample, to answe... Read more