The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
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The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
3d ago
The Paradox: (Edited for clarity): The hole paradox arises from a misconception about the nature of empty space. While a hole might initially seem to be just empty space, it is not a true void but rather a space defined by its lack of something, such as the absence of material or substance. This ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
6d ago
How do we decide what is fact and what is opinion? There are more than 8.1 billion humans on Earth and our conflicting ideologies, religions, worldviews and values divide us. I worry that we will destroy ourselves and all the other species with our conflicts. I think that if we could work out what ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
3w ago
I hold that some concepts are primitive and absolutely simple, and as such cannot be defined without circular reference (to itself). I am curious as to how many people hold a similar view, and how many completely reject such an idea. I will give the best example I have: being (viz., ‘to be ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
3w ago
Surely this is the rub? Most direct and indirect realists alike would assume that a photo is epistemically better grounded than an artist's impression? Even if the artist is an eye-witness at the scene? Because maybe not the whole flower but many of its properties, and its downstream physical ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
1M ago
Higher-order logic is the union of first-, second-, third-, ..., nth-order logic; i.e., higher-order logic admits quantification over sets that are nested arbitrarily deeply. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher-order_logic All orders of logic in one formal system. There are many ways to further ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
1M ago
I am aware that there have been so many threads on the nature of consciousness and 'mind', especially as it may be one of the most central questions of philosophy and psychology. At the moment, I am reading, 'Infinite Mind: Science of the Human Vibrations of Consciousness'by Hunt(1996). It looks at ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
1M ago
Imagine a person who values truth, logic and reason. Imagine this person believes the best way to have true beliefs is by applying logic and reason to the things that he may read, hear, see or otherwise experience. Now imagine, unbeknownst to this person, that he's actually *bad* at applying reason ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
1M ago
This is in reaction to several posts early in the 'Can computers think' topic, but it is fairly off-topic, so spinning off a new thread. The simulation hypothesis has nothing to do with an imitation of a person, which would be an android or some other 'fake' human. So when somebody suggests 'if all ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
1M ago
So, in Being and Nothingness, Sartre contends that we have ontological freedom. How is it that we can have ontological freedom without positing an essence? This is a contradiction as Sartre claims that ontological freedom is inherent. I know that the common answer to this is that one confounds ..read more
The Philosophy Forum » Metaphysics & Epistemology
1M ago
Edited for clarity (3/14/24): Our "awareness" may not actually be awareness at all; it could merely seem like awareness of the way things truly are. Even something as seemingly concrete as the math equation 1+1=2 could, in reality, equal 3, 500, or even 0, or perhaps something beyond our current ..read more