Recent Responses
What is pain? Does pain really affect us, or is it a trick the mind plays to help protect us?
Jyl Gentzler
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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Many philosophers have held that the only thing that is bad in itself is pain. Nothing else can count as bad except to the extent that it gives rise to pain. But I wonder whether your suggestion (if I’m understanding it correctly) is closer to the truth. It’s not pain itself that is harm... Read more
On the issue of gay marriage. What do philosophers think about the definition that politicians are suggesting should go into the constitution that marriage is the union between a man and a women? Is the definition valid?
Richard Heck
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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Alex is right, I think, that people are not really debating what theword "marriage" means, though of course some politicians have beeninclined to bring out their dictionaries. What's at issue is, rather,what the institution of marriage is. It's like the difference between adebate about what... Read more
I consider myself a staunch skeptic, and it puzzles me that I had 3 paranormal instances in which I have no doubt that objects, after falling from my hands, have disappeared before my very eyes or reappeared later in absurd places; I like to think that this is a mystical mischief of a friendly "ghost", for there have not been any consequences; I also think there are layers of different unfathomable dimensions that we will never know in this existence. Please elaborate. Eduardo Schwank. Guatemala City
Alexander George
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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You are a skeptic and yet you "have no doubt" that you had paranormal episodes? Hmmm. I'm not sure what else you believe, so I'll just talk about me. I've never had such an episode so having one would really be Big News for me. On the other hand, I have misplaced objects, often in wa... Read more
I was reading <i>Time</i> magazine of August 15 of this year. I was curious about the fact about what would happen if natural selection is proved wrong? Then if it is proved wrong, is our understanding of the reality relative? And if it is relative, how are we sure that the way we understand our surroundings is the correct one? I really need you to answer this question because I am afraid of devoting my life to something that later will prove completely wrong. Thanks.
Richard Heck
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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There have been many instances over the centuries in which well-confirmed scientific theories were later shown to be wrong. Usually, they weren't simply wrong. There was something they had right, but then it turned out that there were various sorts of problems, and a very different theory ha... Read more
Question for someone religious probably: What is the significance of "faith," in religion? For example, why is the single most important thing in Christianity to have faith that Jesus is the son of God? Why wouldn't God let people just know all the answers?
Richard Heck
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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I don't understand this question. First, I don't think "the single most important thing in Christianity [is] to have faith that Jesus is the son of God". It's true that there are many forms of religion that place a high degree of importance upon one's believing this, that, and the other thin... Read more
When the 1st word was spoken (i.e., Oog the caveman says "rock"), could it have been really understood without a language in place? Could Oog have really understood he was saying rock unless he already had the system in place. In other words would Oog have to have a word for "I", "am", "going", "to", "name", and "this", etc.? In other words would not the 1st intelligent being to speak something intelligible have to have a basic language in place? If this is true, then what would be the ramifications of that? Maybe the question should be posed, "Is it possible to think without a language?"
Richard Heck
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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Have you ever had a dog or a cat? Most people find that it is possible to communicate with their animals to some degree. And plausibly, language grew out of much more primitive forms of communication.
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I am an atheist. If there really is a "god", why is there no physical proof that he, she, it ever existed? Except for written words ... which, for all that we know, could be all lies so people can feel better about themselves.
Richard Heck
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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Are you supposing that, if something exists, it has to be possible to prove that it does? I would suppose not. So let us rephrase the question: Why isn't there compelling physical evidence that God exists? Some people think there is: The universe itself constitutes such evidence. And if that... Read more
In the past in places such as Greece, there were philosophers and scholars like Socrates, Plato, etc. Do we have any modern-day philosophers whose works are as highly regarded as the ancient ones? And were the works of the ancient philosophers, when they were alive, not regarded as highly as they are now?
Richard Heck
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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This is a fun parlor game. I've often played it with friends andcolleagues. "Which philosophers active in the latter half of thetwentieth century will have their work read two hundred years fromnow?" The question can mean different things, and it's obviouslyimpossible to know. Our present se... Read more
I understand points as entities with zero extension. (Is this correct?) Yet infinitely many points are said to compose space. It seems like even infinitely many zeros could never add up to a finite non-zero value. So, what's up with points? If they don't have any extension, what are they? As a follow up, does it make sense to think about points in space in a different way from how we think about points in time?
Richard Heck
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
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Yes, a point has length, depth, and height zero. So do two points, three points, and even as many points as there are natural numbers. But if you have as many points as there are real numbers (of which there are more than there are natural numbers), then that set of points may have some posi... Read more
On the issue of gay marriage. What do philosophers think about the definition that politicians are suggesting should go into the constitution that marriage is the union between a man and a women? Is the definition valid?
Richard Heck
October 18, 2005
(changed October 18, 2005)
Permalink
Alex is right, I think, that people are not really debating what theword "marriage" means, though of course some politicians have beeninclined to bring out their dictionaries. What's at issue is, rather,what the institution of marriage is. It's like the difference between adebate about what... Read more