Community Digest

Top new questions this week:

Is it "unscientific" to be sceptical without offering alternative explanations?

Alice has made some anecdotal observations. Through a process of elimination, she proposes a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon, as well as an experiment to validate (or otherwise) her hypothesis. ...

philosophy-of-science fallacies skepticism scientific-method  
user avatar asked by Xophmeister Score of 12
user avatar answered by Mark Score of 16

Can philosophy be useful?

I cite the article by Hans Radder entitled "Everything of value is useful: How philosophy can be socially relevant", published by Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective. He ...

epistemology values social-epistemology social-relevance utility  
user avatar asked by Meanach Score of 9
user avatar answered by ConnieMnemonic Score of 14

Is Taoism a philosophy?

I find some of the individual ideas in Taoism comforting when applied to my own life (e.g. effortless action, non-attachment, acceptance, duality), but I don't really know what Taoism is as an all ...

philosophy-of-mind terminology eastern-philosophy taoism chinese-philosophy  
user avatar asked by jacob Score of 8
user avatar answered by notwithstanding Score of 7

Is science fundamentally based on the binary testing of hypotheses? (according to the scientific method)

I'm intrigued by the conventional portrayal of the scientific method involving binary testing of hypotheses: accepted or rejected. Is this binary framework an inherent part of scientific inquiry, or ...

philosophy-of-science scientific-method  
user avatar asked by bananenheld Score of 7
user avatar answered by haxor789 Score of 5

If Large Language Models can do Maths, is Formalism true?

A slightly flippant question, but curious to see what my platonist rivals might have to say! One of the proported reasons that Open-AI was having business politics trouble was the suggestion that ...

philosophy-of-mathematics philosophy-of-language semantics artificial-intelligence philosophy-of-computer-science  
user avatar asked by Paul Ross Score of 7
user avatar answered by J D Score of 8

What's the name of the logical fallacy of when you answer a question with essentially something that doesn't mean anything?

I've been trying to search in Wikipedia's list of fallacies but didn't find one that seemed to quite fit this case. Is there a name for the fallacy of when someone answers a question with essentially ...

fallacies  
user avatar asked by F. ALA Score of 5
user avatar answered by J D Score of 3

What can a person not categorize in the process of his knowledge acquisition?

When a subject learns about the world and gets experience as a result, he builds his own mental representations - thereby essentially differentiating the world (that is, dividing it into abstract ...

metaphysics ontology properties experience categorization  
user avatar asked by Asd Fgh Score of 3
user avatar answered by Jo Wehler Score of 1

Greatest hits from previous weeks:

Is 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' a good argument?

I'm hearing the argument X doesn't do Y people do Y in quite a few guises. For instance in it's original form guns don't kill people; people kill people Presumably, therefore guns are OK cars don't ...

logic argumentation validity  
user avatar asked by Crab Bucket Score of 172
user avatar answered by Chris Sunami Score of 247

What is the difference between philosophy, religion, and science?

If philosophy is the rational investigation of truth, how is it different from science or mathematics? Is philosophy based at some level on a subjective feeling? If so, how is it different from ...

philosophy-of-religion  
user avatar asked by B.J. Solem Score of 7
user avatar answered by George Chen Score of 2

What are prominent attacks of Rawls' "veil of ignorance" argument? Which liberal philosophers have advanced it?

In John Rawls' A Theory of Justice, he argues that morally, society should be constructed politically as if we were all behind a veil of ignorance; that is, the rules and precepts of society should be ...

political-philosophy philosophy-of-law rawls  
user avatar asked by Uticensis Score of 15
user avatar answered by Cody Gray - on strike Score of 15

What is the basis for Kant's misquote "If the truth shall kill them, let them die" (murderer at the door)?

I recently discovered that the quote "If the truth shall kill them, let them die" is falsely attributed to Kant, and actually stems from Ayn Rand paraphrasing Kant [1] [2] Which work/passage could ...

kant quote ayn-rand  
user avatar asked by KantGuest Score of 3
user avatar answered by Conifold Score of 7

Why does the universe obey scientific laws?

As far as anyone is aware, the universe consistently acts according to predictable laws (and scientific inquiry exists to determine those laws). Is there any metaphysical reason for this? Is such a ...

philosophy-of-science metaphysics  
user avatar asked by That Guy Score of 57
user avatar answered by Bobson Score of 35

What is the relationship between philosophy and science?

While philosophy and science as held as separate disciplines (and often taught in completely different colleges within a university [i.e. College of Liberal Arts vs. College of Science]), it is ...

epistemology philosophy-of-science history-of-philosophy  
user avatar asked by FrankH Score of 12
user avatar answered by DBK Score of 11

What would Kant do when two categorical imperatives conflict? Could he ever justify lying?

Suppose a German SS officer knocked on my door, asking me whether I had any Jews. And suppose further that I had two Jews in a secret compartment in the attic that he'd never be able to find. ...

kant ethics rule-ethics  
user avatar asked by Cerberus Score of 34
user avatar answered by Cody Gray - on strike Score of 37

Can you answer these questions?

If Kant doesn't have the empirical world as a determinate whole, does this rule out a possible-worlds semantics for his modal logic?

For example, take actualist representationism: Kant's "whole world" doesn't seem to be a finished totality, so referring to "a maximal set of consistent propositions" seems amiss, ...

kant possible-worlds  
user avatar asked by Kristian Berry Score of 2

What kind of rhetorical device is 'splaining?

It is quite common for people to respond to an issue or question with the first thing that comes to mind, framed as a convincing explanation. When it appears to be a self-serving or unwarranted ...

argumentation rhetoric  
user avatar asked by Scott Rowe Score of 1

Can the definition of philosophy be personal?

Is there a formal definition of philosophy agreed upon by everybody. If any new- or third-party decides to subscribe to "philosophy", do they compulsorily accept the formal definition. Or ...

philosophy-of-religion definitions  
user avatar asked by megamonster68 Score of 2
user avatar answered by Jo Wehler Score of 0
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