Recent Responses
Do you think it is possible to overcome loneliness by yourself?
Peter Lipton
November 13, 2005
(changed November 13, 2005)
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There are two ways to overcome loneliness. One is by getting involved with other people so you neither are nor feel lonely; the other is by yourself, so that although you are alone, you don't feel lonely. Your question seems to rule out the first route, but the second remains open. Lone... Read more
Would you agree that numbers are synthetic truths rather than analytic truths? This is because I can imagine a universe, whenever I walk 2 meters foward, space itself 'bends' so I end up 3 meters ahead of where I started. In this universe, when 2 is added you end up with 3. 2+2=5 (or maybe 6).
Daniel J. Velleman
November 13, 2005
(changed November 13, 2005)
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It is true that we can imagine a universe in which when you walk forward 2 meters, you end up 3 meters ahead of where you started. However, I would say that in that universe, 2+2 is still equal to 4, but addition does not describe how one's position changes when one walks forward.... Read more
Is the scientific method anything more than a good algorithm?
Alexander George
November 13, 2005
(changed November 13, 2005)
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People often speak of "the scientific method", but it means nothing.There is no such method -- and one proof of that is the greatfascination and challenge scientific inquiry holds for so many people,something it would not have if its practice merely consisted in turningthe crank of The... Read more
If determinism is true, does this undermine morality? Would Hitler be morally equal to Gandhi because both are pre-determined to act the way they did? Should this affect the anger we feel towards 'immoral' people?
Peter Lipton
November 13, 2005
(changed November 13, 2005)
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This is a big question, but I will just tell a story familiar to philosophers working in the area. A man is found guilty of a crime, and is allowed to give a brief speech before sentencing. He admits the crime, but claims not only to be a criminal but also a philosopher, and one who has... Read more
Why is human life valued more than animal life in the absence of religion? Are arguments based on our being intelligent or sentient valid, after all we make the rules. If you could ask an elephant it might offer other criteria to value species by.
Jyl Gentzler
November 13, 2005
(changed November 13, 2005)
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This question is extremely difficult to answer, because to answer itsatisfactorily, we must first settle the question of the nature ofmorality. Morality proposes certain norms for our behavior and perhapsalso for our emotional responses to certain events. But unless weknow what these norms... Read more
Socrates said, "All I know is that I know nothing". What I'm trying to figure out is this: if I know NOTHING, how do I KNOW that I know nothing? It just goes round in circles thus becoming nothing more than a paradox. Would you agree?
Jyl Gentzler
November 13, 2005
(changed November 13, 2005)
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Peter is right. Many have taken the Socrates of Plato’s early dialogues to be a skeptic at least with regard to knowledge of the most worthwhile things. My own view is that, at least as he’s represented in the Platonic dialogues, Socrates is not a skeptic. He did not believe that it wa... Read more
Is it possible to measure sorrow or happiness, if so can a person's grief or joy be greater than another persons'? BJ Hebert Lafayette, LA
Mark Crimmins
November 12, 2005
(changed November 12, 2005)
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This is one of those questions where your first impulse is to say "of course!" and "impossible!" at the same time (which is of course impossible): Of course! We have little trouble discerning that the suicidal depressive is less cheery than the tiny tot with her eyes all aglow. We're... Read more
Which of these is a better life? Live fast; die young - a life filled with excitement passion and adventure which ends abruptly on your 30th birthday. Or: Slow and steady wins the race - a life of contentment and satisfaction but little out of the ordinary which lasts well into your dotage.
Peter S. Fosl
November 12, 2005
(changed November 12, 2005)
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There is no single answer to this question, just as there is no best life. There are many good lives, and many fitting each of these descriptions. Different characters will find different lives good. For myself, I say, on balance the latter is to be preferred. I find myself in agreeme... Read more
What's the criterion for the truth of a philosophical proposition? In philosophy as a general discipline, not in different doctrines. In science, it's the observed reality; in religion, it's the God's sayings revealed to its prophet and gathered in a book such as Bible, Quran, etc; in art, the matter is not the truth but beauty and seemingly the criterion should be the audience's experience when being exposed to the art work. But in philosophy what is it?
Peter Lipton
November 12, 2005
(changed November 12, 2005)
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Much of it is consistency checking, and this involves playing off our intuitions against each other and trying to get rid of contradictions in our beliefs. The good news is consistency is a necessary condition for truth: if our beliefs are inconsistent they cannot all be true. The bad ne... Read more
If quantum indeterminacy is true, it proves that we do not live in a deterministic world. But I seem to have trouble with the notion that indeterminancy give you responsibility for your actions and decisions. For example, I am walking into a store and I open the door. There is someone behind me. I can hold the door open for them or I can keep on walking. If quantum indeterminancy is true, than I have the possibility to do both. But am I truly the author of the decision or was the decision ultimately made by something which I had no control over? And is it intelligible to say that the former is even possible?
Richard Heck
November 13, 2005
(changed November 13, 2005)
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For this reason, many philosophers now suppose that the problem of free will really has nothing to do with determinacy.
My own favorite book on the subject is Daniel Dennett's Elbow Room, but I'm sure other people have other favorites.
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