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Could you list the major philosophers who believed or believe in the afterlife?
Nicholas D. Smith
August 2, 2007
(changed August 2, 2007)
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The list would be a very long one, I'm afraid! Nearly all of the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers did; all of the early and medieval Christian philosophers, most of the early modern European philosophers, until perhaps the 20th Century. In the 20th and 21st centuries, probably most of... Read more
How long is forever? I know this question is ambiguous, but I have often tried to understand the heavy anchor of time and infinity, but I think it's really just too big to understand with the tools I've been given. I would really like to know someone's thoughts on the subject, and if the question is too ambiguous, is it because we don't have the 'brain power' to understand?
Alexander George
August 4, 2007
(changed August 4, 2007)
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You might ask: "How long is this performance going to last?" And you might get the answer: "Two hours." You might also ask, more ambitiously, how long is this universe going to last?" And you might get the answer (from physicists presumably): "Forever." Now, those two answers seem simila... Read more
Why is bestiality such a horrendous crime in most (perhaps all) countries in the world, whereas the killing of animals for consumption, and in some cases, even as a sport (deer, pigs, sheep, cattle, etc.) is not a crime? Isn't it more cruel to animals to kill them, than to rape (if that is the right word to use here) them?
Cheryl Chen
August 2, 2007
(changed August 2, 2007)
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You might be interested in this 2001 article by Peter Singer (author of Animal Liberation): http://www.nerve.com/Opinions/Singer/heavyPetting/
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Bonjour, I am considered an attractive 26 year old woman. I have at times been asked to model but never have. I find our culture's obsession with beauty unappealing and it has led me to sort of play down my beauty in dress. Should I be worried or at least concious of society and its issues around beauty? Or should I just strive to be the most beautiful I can be, disregarding other things, purely for the sake of aesthetics?
Jerrold Levinson
August 2, 2007
(changed August 2, 2007)
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I don't disagree with the first respondent, but I'll give you a somewhat different response, and taking my cue from the 'Bonjour' with which you open, will give it en français. (If the cue was misleading, I'll be happy to translate subsequently!) Premièrement, la beauté est une chose rare et... Read more
In order for knowledge to be knowledge, does it have to be true, or in other words, when something that everyone today believes to be true turns out to be wrong next year, was it not knowledge?
Peter Lipton
August 16, 2007
(changed August 16, 2007)
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Like most philosophers (though perhaps not most historians and sociologists of science), I think that knowledge requires truth, but it remains possible for someone to know something at one time and not to know it at a later time.
Knowledge requires belief as well as truth, so a simple way that... Read more
Is it possible that objective moral truths are out there but have not yet been discovered?
Thomas Pogge
July 30, 2007
(changed July 30, 2007)
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There are well worked-over philosophical questions about whether moral propositions have truth values and whether the things referred to in such propositions (duties, virtues, rights, and so on) are discovered or invented or (like irrational numbers) constructed. I assume that these are not the qu... Read more
Two questions: (1) When, if ever, could the fact that I commit a wrong against another person make it the case that I have less of a right to feel morally indignant if that same person commits a wrong against me at a later time? (Assume that the wrong that she commits against me is unrelated to the prior wrong I committed against her (e.g. she did not wrong me out of revenge for my wronging her).) (2) More generally, could the fact that I have committed wrongs in the past ever make it the case that I have less of a right to feel morally indignant at the wrongs performed against me by other people generally (not just the victims of my wrongs)?
Thomas Pogge
July 30, 2007
(changed July 30, 2007)
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I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of a "right to feel indignant" and a right that varies in magnitude. So can we just repharase this in terms of it being more or less appropriate for you to feel indignant?
The issues you raise are very important. They play a large if poorly understood role... Read more
Hume said that "reason is the slave of passion". I think recent philosophers translate it as "only desires motivate; beliefs don't". But consider the belief that some action gives pleasure. Isn't it an intrinsically motivating belief? Doesn't it motivate one to perform that action?
Thomas Pogge
July 30, 2007
(changed July 30, 2007)
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Perhaps a more accurate modern translation would be: "Only a desire can motivate by itself, a belief can motivate only in conjunction with a desire."
The Humean's response to your query would be: The belief that some action will give you pleasure can motivate you only if you desire to experience,... Read more
I was thinking, Is "absolutely nothing" logically possible? And I would just like to know what you would think of this argument. IF it is accepted that 1) "X is true if X corresponds to reality" then it would be logically impossible for "absolutely nothing" to exist. "Absolutely Nothing" implies no reality. If there is no reality then one can never say that "absolutely nothing" can exist, since "absolutely nothing" does not correspond to reality. But I ask you, if "absolutely nothing" is even possible. And if it is not possible, then what logical proofs are there. Thank you!
Allen Stairs
August 9, 2007
(changed August 9, 2007)
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I'd like to take this question in a slightly different direction. I accept the point made by Prof. George: we don't need to think of the phrase "absolutely nothing" as referring to something; the logic of "There's milk in the fridge" isn't the same as the logic of "There's absolutely nothing in... Read more
Do these statements mean exactly the same thing: (a) You should not not buy that book. (b) You should buy that book.
Alexander George
July 30, 2007
(changed July 30, 2007)
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(a) sounds a bit awkward and one might wonder whether it's ambiguous. Does it mean:
(a1) You should make it be the case that (it is not the case that (you do not buy that book)),
or
(a2) It is not the case that (you should make it be the case that (you do not buy that book)).
Using "S" to st... Read more