The existence tag has no wiki summary.
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What is value of a philosphical argument/theory when a conclusion can never be reached?
I have seen several questions and discussions recently on this forum concerning p-zombies, whether or not what we call consciousness is a tangible entity or merely an illusion or elaborate scheme ...
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1answer
40 views
Does nihilism deny that any objective value ever existed or just now?
I read that the viewpoint of nihilism denies the existence of objective values and meaning. But does it also say that the values never existed, never can or will exist or just that these values don't ...
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1answer
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How to express Kant's notion of existence on first-order logic according to Ayer?
In Language, Truth, and Logic, Ayer writes:
[As] Kant pointed out, existence is not an attribute. For, when we ascribe an attribute to a thing, we covertly assert that it exists.
However, I ...
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0answers
24 views
Is it possible to reconfigure being and what would be involved? [closed]
In my understanding 'being' is a term with a multiplicity of meanings. Does it mean 'direct lived experience'?, a 'way of being'?, being somewhere? What is it in relation to 'existence'? Is 'to be' ...
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2answers
122 views
Can we create the Matrix?
Can we fully simulate the reality for a Brain in the Vat (BIV)?
For example i clone myself and connect the clone's brain to a very sophisticated computer, which simulates a part of the universe (for ...
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1answer
109 views
What is the meaning of “predicate” in this definition?
I have trouble understanding the article on existence in this Philosophy dictionary.
Instantiation in reality, or actual being. Kant pointed out that
existence is not a predicate.
What is the ...
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1answer
95 views
Is gender a property of essence or existence?
In his address, the Holy Father said:
According to the biblical creation account, being created by God as
male and female pertains to the essence of the human creature.
The use of the word ...
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1answer
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A Don Quixote existential question [closed]
I guess everyone knows about Cervantes's character "Don Quixote" and the metaphor within it's lifestyle.
Even though every single individual understands it differently, in my opinion Don Quixote is ...
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2answers
218 views
Can one prove a negative existential claim?
A major concern in epistemology is just what we can know about existential claims, that is, claims about the existence (or lack of) something.
Suppose for example that I assert the following:
The ...
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8answers
479 views
Proof Universe Came From Nothing?
Consider the following proof:
(1) Let the Universe be defined as the set of all things.
(2) It is impossible for a thing to come from itself. (You can't be your own parent)
(3) 2 implies a set of ...
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3answers
146 views
“I think, therefore I am” question?
The famous Cogito ergo sum opens with "I" can think, therefore "I" am. How does "I" establish "I" before "I" can "think"?
in other words how did "I" establish "I" before it could think in the first ...
3
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1answer
109 views
What were Descartes's justifications for the human ability to doubt, and why did he think it was so important?
In his Meditations on First Philosophy, Rene Descartes resolved to systematically doubt that any of his beliefs were true. This was done in order to build a system of belief that would consist of only ...
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2answers
119 views
Is Descarte putting the cart before the horse when he says 'cogito ergo sum'?
Famously Descartes said 'Cogito ergo sum'. I'm a bit puzzled by this. I do not need to think in order to assert/understand/intuit that I exist: when I wake up in the morning I immediately intuit that ...
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3answers
769 views
How should we understand the teletransportation thought experiment?
Please read the short story here:Beam me up
First, I'd like to to know whether there is anything inherently inconsistent about this teletransportation idea? Is there fundamental reasons which say ...
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1answer
690 views
Aristotle and the Eternity of the Universe
In the Middle Ages, Aristotle's belief that the world was eternal posed a major theological challenge for the many people who held a religious belief in Creation. Moses Maimonides, in his Guide for ...
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1answer
296 views
One sentence to describe everything [closed]
How would you put together a reasonably short sentence, in order to describe everything?
By everything, I mean that the sentence would be broad enough to cover any possible subject by recursive ...
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1answer
160 views
The meaning of life [closed]
What's the purpose of our existence? :)
Religions say that without the made-up gods humans have no purpose to live. Is meeting your maker the ultimate reason to live?
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4answers
354 views
Proving that man is not born with certain skills?
I was arguing with my father about the nature of the human mind. I believe that a man is not born with a predetermined skill, such as painter or composer, and that through hard work and dedication, a ...
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2answers
213 views
Does time exist? [closed]
When we try to define time, we define it based on an event which happens periodically. For example, in a clock,we say that the time elapsed is 1 minute if the second hand completes 1 revolution. Here ...
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5answers
295 views
Does the concept of existence entail the concept of death?
Does the concept of existence entail the concept of death? I am asking this because many philosophers have tried to prove the existence of god (Descartes through the Meditations) by saying that he ...
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5answers
648 views
In what sense if any could something without mass or energy exist?
I have long been interested in physics as (working toward) a description of absolute truth and, as a consequence, have had a number of discussions with people with religious and metaphysical beliefs ...
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2answers
219 views
What are the latest arguments for/against the existence of God? [closed]
What are the newest or latest arguments for or against the existence of God?
What is the state of this debate? After proponents and critics have argued and responded to everything so far, what else ...
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7answers
560 views
How can one differentiate nonexistent entities?
How is it possible for things that do not exist to not be the same? How can one differentiate nonexistent entities? How can I know the difference between ghosts and werewolves if neither exist?
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3answers
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Is illogical = not logical?
I think law of excluded middle makes sense to mean that a statement should be either logical or illogical but in this case I don't assume "not logical" = "illogical" since the author didn't say ...
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3answers
216 views
If ontology is theory of existence, then what is theory of essence?
Some words in philosophy are usually represented as theory of x. For example, logic is the theory of reasoning, epistemology is the theory of knowledge, ontology is the theory of existence, etc.
On ...
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4answers
319 views
What is the difference between existing in the mind and non-physical existence?
How could one detect the subtle difference, if any, between imagining a being and using the imagination to interact with a non-physical being?
To provide some context for this question, I will give a ...
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16answers
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Why is there something instead of nothing?
A simple but fundamental question.
The "something" means the whole Universe (known and unknown), it could be represented as the reality version of the set of all sets, which is itself debated. It ...
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4answers
312 views
Is it possible to determine an object's nonexistence? [closed]
The fish bowl argument is the observation that things are the way they are not due to some improbable (or otherwise) happenstance but rather because we are completely unfamiliar with the alternative. ...
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12answers
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Could 'cogito ergo sum' possibly be false?
I've heard it postulated by some people that "we can't truly know anything". Whilst that does seem to apply to the vast majority of things, I can't see how 'cogito ergo sum' can possibly be false. ...
