Recent Responses
Hello, I submitted the following question a few days ago, but it has not been posted as far as I can tell. Perhaps the submission did not go through, but it is also possible that it was not posted because someone thought that the question had already been asked. Just in case, I post it again. Please notice that my question is quite different from questions like "Is the universe infinite?" or "Does the universe have an end?". So here it goes: Are there two points in the universe such that, if you take the straight line through these two points and lay out yard sticks along that line to measure the distance between those two points, no finite number of yard sticks is sufficient to do so. In other words, are there infinite distances in the universe? Again, please notice that this is NOT the same question as "Is the universe infinite?" The universe could be infinite without there being an infinite distance between any two points. Many thanks for responding.
Richard Heck
October 23, 2005
(changed October 23, 2005)
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I believe that the answer to this question is "No". But it's a question for a physicist, really, not one for a philosopher nor even for a mathematician. One can certainly describe metrics on spaces that behave in the kind of way you suggest. But whether the universe is such a space is an emp... Read more
How is it possible that one can better their own self consciousness? There is an old Chinese saying: "Who Guards the Guards at the gate?" If the mind seeks to better itself, how can it do so? If the ego is what needs to be bettered, what is in check of the ego itself? Is this not possible, because the ego is what is seeking to be bettered? This seems impossible to me.
Alexander George
October 23, 2005
(changed October 23, 2005)
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Let's say you want to overhaul some aspect of your mental life (e.g., you want to improve your analytical skills, or you want to become more attuned to your surroundings). Is your worry this: that either your whole mind is getting "replaced", in which case there's nothing directing the... Read more
Are there any arguments against allowing gay marriage that aren't religious or bigoted or both?
Tamar Szabo Gendler
October 30, 2005
(changed October 30, 2005)
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Here (http://examinedlife.typepad.com/johnbelle/2005/10/anti_same_sex_m.html)is another attempt to offer such an argument, with second thoughts bythe author here(http://examinedlife.typepad.com/johnbelle/2005/10/uncle_kvetch_is.html).
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How do philosophers address the nature-nurture controversy?
Louise Antony
October 29, 2005
(changed October 29, 2005)
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Let me add some comments to Mitch Green's and Gabriel Segal's. (And a quick plug: you might want to check out my entry on "Nativism" in the new edition of the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Philosophy, due out soon.)
Two quick points, and then a longer one.
First: Showing that a trait has a "... Read more
Is mathematics independent of science? And, vice versa.
Peter Lipton
October 23, 2005
(changed October 23, 2005)
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I agree with Alex about the way mathematics is independent of science. Einstein proposed that space is curved and hence non-Euclidian, but this didn't undermine Euclidian geometry, because that geometry is about an abstract space defined by the axioms of the system, not about physical space... Read more
To what extent does belief preclude speculative thought? If to believe is to accept a proposition as being true (as my dictionary claims), do we undermine our belief by testing the proposition? To what extent does testing a proposition imply doubt. I attend a private Christian university, so I find this question extremely important. I have given up using the word "believe" completely because it seems to undermine my need to question things. When people ask if I believe in God, Jesus-as-Christ, the Trinity, I feel I have to say, "no." Would proclaiming belief in those things while questioning their validity undermine what we mean by "belief"? Did this question even make sense?
Tamar Szabo Gendler
October 23, 2005
(changed October 23, 2005)
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Traditional discussions of this question suggest that thereare two ways of understanding the relation between belief and knowledge. On theone hand, there is a tradition (tracable to Plato) which says that havingbelief about something precludes having knowledge about that thing. (Plato... Read more
When a person says "I would like to get to know you." What exactly do they mean? In my opinion, you can't really get to "know" anyone. Because to "know" something it takes looking at it from all angles, seeing it react in different situations and examine it inside and out. So, given this definition, does "I want to get to know you" mean that a person would like to look at the other from all angles? To see him/her react in different situations? To examine him/her inside & out? Of course, this can be done physically. Through sexual relations. But how would you go about knowing someone personally & mentally? You never know what they are thinking. This, in return, makes everyone become untrustworthy. Alas, to say "I would like to get to know you" means "I want to spend the rest of my life with you" ... Or does it?
Alan Soble
October 23, 2005
(changed October 23, 2005)
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You write: "Alas, to say 'Iwould like to get to know you' means 'I want to spend the rest of mylife with you' ... Or does it?" Consider this variation: Alas, to betold "I want to get to know you" is to be told "You don't stand achance with me."
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Is mathematics independent of science? And, vice versa.
Peter Lipton
October 23, 2005
(changed October 23, 2005)
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I agree with Alex about the way mathematics is independent of science. Einstein proposed that space is curved and hence non-Euclidian, but this didn't undermine Euclidian geometry, because that geometry is about an abstract space defined by the axioms of the system, not about physical space... Read more
When is it time to get on the medical intervention train and when should you leave well enough alone? As I have gotten older, and my friends have gotten older, every doctor visit feels like stepping on a train that will soon speed up so much you can't get off - so fast you can't even see the landscape outside the window anymore. Chronic medication, more tests...preventive examinations, just one more, just one more. I understand that these things prolong life, but how do you distinguish treatable medical conditions from normal aging? How do you go gently into that good night?
Jyl Gentzler
October 22, 2005
(changed October 22, 2005)
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It seems to me that the answer to this question depends on the answerto at least four other questions: (1) Under what conditions does onecount as living a life that is worth living? (2) Would a given medicalintervention allow me to continue to live a life that is worth living?(3) What obliga... Read more
Is every type of happiness or pleasure explainable (possible to articulate through reason or logic)? Should I be distraught that I am unable to articulate clearly some of my pleasures? And does an unexplainable pleasure (if it exists) suffer from its unexplainable nature or flourish because of it?
Nalini Bhushan
November 9, 2005
(changed November 9, 2005)
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Approaching your question a little differently, one might ask a further, pragmatic question, to wit: what difference does it make in your life (to your happiness, to your sense of well being, to your life projects) to experience pleasures/passions that remain inarticulate or not fully art... Read more