Questions tagged [reference-request]
This tag should be used when the question is asking for specific references.
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16 views
Term for the idea that regardless of our philosophy, only the observable/physical matters
I'm looking for terms that define the following presuppositions:
every action should be valued based on its outcomes, not choosing is a choice
impact of an action must be valued based on the ...
1
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0answers
22 views
partial fictionalism about propositions
One theory of propositions is that they're "useful fictions." However, this faces the formidable objection that fictionalism makes it hard to explain how something fictional can tell us about the ...
2
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1answer
120 views
Are we facing a new wave of social prejudice and discrimination? [on hold]
We are talking about computer algorithms and AI, not the engaging human like ones, but those used by business and government to decide how to treat people...
Almost anyone who has tried to negotiate ...
2
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2answers
41 views
Looking for a piece regarding the relationship between subject and object (by Schopenhauer?)
I am desperately looking for a piece I've read years ago on the internet. It is written as a conversation (literally) between the subject and the object. The quintessence is that neither can exist ...
3
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1answer
98 views
Is there a world behind you when you do not look behind your back? [closed]
There is a very famous philosophical question that almost all of us have heard before:
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
My question is a little ...
4
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3answers
221 views
Can science prove or provide evidence that the brain is the source of the mind
I am seeking published discussions or arguments about this proposition, though some discussion here would be useful:
Science can prove or provide significant evidence that the brain is the
source ...
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0answers
38 views
Philosophical journal that allows blind referee
I'd like to know which journals in Philosophy (logic) allow papers without author's information to be reviewed by referees.
2
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1answer
73 views
Epicurus's claim that the mind is in the heart
I'm looking for a reference to back the claim made on SEP:
The mind, which is located at the heart, is a center that controls the other soul-parts as well as the body, and that receives and ...
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0answers
35 views
Are there any good sources that would help me read Lacan's Seminar XVII?
I've been interested in psychoanalysis for the past year or so; I've read a little bit of Freud (the introductory lectures, the case study on the Rat Man, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, and about half ...
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2answers
133 views
Does anyone know any philosophers who engage with (ordinary language) dictionaries in their work?
This may be a strange question, but here's the breakdown. I work on a concept that has received very little philosophical attention. For this reason, I have to consult good old dictionaries (Oxford, ...
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3answers
123 views
Does history provide support for moral objectivism?
I must say this was thoroughly entertaining:
The Lizard People Of Alpha Draconis 1 Decided To Build An Ansible -
Scott Alexander
https://www.lesswrong.com/s/zfXAcwLnGocsCsriG/p/...
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0answers
75 views
Given the principle of innocence, how shall we explain logic's usefulness?
I have been reading Florian Steinberger's dissertation (Harmony and logical inferentialism) and I come across the following on p60:
...two fundamental assumptions (the other one being the principle ...
5
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3answers
227 views
Is symmetry real?
Ask almost anyone, and they'll hold up their hands, put them together and say "there you go!" Except, your hands aren't really symmetrical. In fact every "symmetry" I can think of suffers from this '...
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2answers
61 views
Seeking literature on whether all beliefs should be justified
This is more or less just a reference request.
Sometimes, when a belief is revealed to be unjustified, we should respond by either giving up that belief or at the very least, yielding a certain ...
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1answer
103 views
How do I keep up with the latest in the cutting edge of philosophy? [duplicate]
I always viewed philosophy to be dead after the arrival of modern science. The last great philosopher in metaphysics was Kant, I believe the others who followed him were made irrelevant by the ...
8
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1answer
134 views
Where to find Descartes’ violin player analogy?
I really tried finding the original passage where Descartes lays out the following argument:
Descartes himself anticipated an objection like this and argued that dependence does not strongly ...
5
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3answers
75 views
Are there writers on the topic of an inherent human bias towards the value of rational thinking?
Some people place humans as 'higher animals' because we are uniquely capable of rational thought, while most other animals are not.
This assumes that the trait of rationality is superior to other ...
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5answers
93 views
How is/was “good” (as the contrary of bad) defined?
As Nietzsche differentiated there are two kind of good: this question focus is on the contrary of bad, not the contrary of evil.
There are quite a lot possibilities to define the common term "good". ...
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2answers
140 views
Criticism of stoicism
In relation to the writings of Epictetus or Seneca, what is some adequate criticism to stoicism? Any writings/papers dealing with that in particular?
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2answers
2k views
What did Kant say on the invention of new terms?
I remember I once read in Kant's "Kritik der Reinen Vernunft" about the tendency to come up with or invent new terms/words, about which he was quite "critical" (pun intended). I need the exact quote, ...
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1answer
150 views
On age and Wisdom
Often it happens that a writer will change their position over time. For example a consummate materialist in youth may temper their outlook with a pinch of idealism in more advanced years.
This state ...
2
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1answer
113 views
Philosophers who did not think that language is more special than cognition as a whole
There are pretty many philosophers who talked and wrote on the philosophy of language. Usually language only means the use of words and symbols, however, I noticed that symbols may have different ...
1
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1answer
67 views
Nietzsche aphorism about happiness - interpretation
THE DANGER IN HAPPINESS.--"Everything now turns out best for me, I now love every fate:--who would like to be my fate?"
From Beyond Good and Evil. I wondered if anyone could share some wisdom ...
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2answers
369 views
Book on Meinong's theory of objects
Could anyone please recommend a book to begin to learn about Meinong's theory of objects and "Meinong's Jungle". I thought a good one might be "Meinong's Theory of Objects and Values" by Findlay (1963)...
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0answers
53 views
On the nature of reality from different scientific views [closed]
I apologize from many imprecisions that you will find both in the grammatic and in the ideas.
Close your eyes and then reopen them. So: how does the universe, the experience, emerge?
Then, we can ...
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1answer
109 views
Is having a “type” ethical?
Some people have a particular “type”, a person with particular physical aspects that they look for in a partner.
What ethical frameworks can be used to evaluate this phenomena? Do those frameworks ...
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4answers
212 views
Are Platonic Forms alive?
Reading Dominic J. O'Meara's Plotinus, I noticed that he seems to be claiming that Plotinus looked at the Soul, Forms and the One as active and in some sense alive.
However, I am trying to get a ...
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0answers
20 views
Reference for book — cultural relativism — cognised/cognisable/real worlds (with golden dragon)
I am hoping someone can give me a reference for a book I read once. (I should [as in "would"] have a note, but if I do I can not find it.)
The book was, from memory, a collection of articles/...
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0answers
60 views
Does evil exist outside a mind: a reference request?
Evil seems related to intentions, but i am sure there are those that believe it can exist external to minds. Are there any philosophers that attempt to argue that evil can exist outside a mind?
2
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1answer
60 views
References discussing self-evident truths?
I am interested in philosophical or logic-based texts that discuss the nature of self-evident truths, which seem related to Alvin Plantinga's discussion of so-called properly basic beliefs. I am more ...
1
vote
1answer
176 views
What is the best proof that 1+1=2 by a person who was not Bertrand Russell?
The question says it all. Besides Russell and Whitehead, who are the philosophers and mathematicians who demonstrated successfully that 1+1=2? Extra bonus (i.e., a warm feeling inside) awarded for ...
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2answers
123 views
Authors who think war and violence are part of the American culture and economy
The United States Military budget exceeds the next 9 countries on the list combined ref. here. A great deal of Hollywood movies portrait the glory of war and present violence as something entertaining ...
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4answers
209 views
Would we choose to become psychopaths if we could?
Deep Brain Stimulation to stop major depression is a reality in its infancy hence let’s make a thought experiment:
Presume a much more advanced version of it was created and everybody
could ...
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1answer
131 views
If I cannot draw a world in a truth tree in modal logic does that mean that no other worlds exist for that statement?
Suppose I have a truth tree for a modal logic statement that is closed or is open but for which I cannot continue drawing worlds, does that mean that there are no other accessible worlds in that modal ...
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0answers
37 views
Anti-Positivist Texts
I am hoping someone can recommend good texts concerning interpretivist epistemology.
Thanks.
3
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2answers
157 views
Is Occam's razor about finding the “Best” or the “Worst”?
William of Ockham would, in the 14th century, scarcely have imagined how much Philosophy of science could change. Then when Bacon gave us Inductivism in the 17th century, an immediate synergy can be ...
0
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1answer
61 views
Authors on Transhumanism ending humanity as we know it
Humans are defined by plenty of animal instincts and impulses given by nature which affect our behaviour and existence in every way.
Tribalism, social rules, the need for a leader or an alpha male ...
4
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1answer
76 views
How to stay up-to-date on modern philosophy?
It is rather difficult to decide what to read, what is obsolete, and so forth.
How does one stay up-to-date on modern philosophical thought? Are there journal apps which show new essays, articles, ...
3
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1answer
97 views
Is there a summary of Russell’s Principia Mathematica?
Perhaps better, is there an accessible version of the Principia? I am looking for a summary that would summarize and clarify Russell’s reasoning behind his famous conclusion that 1 + 1 = 2.
0
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1answer
71 views
Authors on leaders, leadership, and the crave for power
Where does the need to become a leader come from? Is it an animal instinct and humans as social animals need an alpha male figure to lead the mob? Are individuals who eager for power dangerous for ...
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3answers
2k views
What would a fractal universe tell us about Time?
To begin with let's look at what is known as the coastline paradox. Briefly it goes like this: If you measure the circumference of Britain with a 1km long stick, and then do the same with a 100m long ...
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2answers
66 views
Article on Daniel Dennett's view of the mind-body problem?
I am taking my first philosophy class; is there a relatively short article (<30 pages preferably) on Dennett's view of the mind-body problem?
I have read his "Where am I", but that just seems like ...
3
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3answers
136 views
Objectivity in science
In my view scientists make experiments and get results. Then, usually they interpret these results (theories). We may agree that experiments' results are objective, at least if they are reproducible. ...
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2answers
101 views
Authors on wars influencing societies [closed]
Let's presume Nazi Germany did not happen. Young kids would not have references on how damaging extreme nationalism can be therefore the Third Reich could have append anywhere in the world an can ...
2
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1answer
83 views
Authors who link religions to Plato's Noble lie
Noble Lie as taught by Plato is a lie created to keep the social order and harmony.
Are there any remarkable authors who understood religions as such?
2
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1answer
57 views
What modern, nonspecialist translations of Boethius, “The Consolation of Philosophy”, are available?
I'm presently reading a PG ebook of The Consolation of Philosophy and realizing it is great for me to read but the translation is hard reading to offer non-philosophers / non-scholars who visit my ...
5
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4answers
228 views
Can / Should Philosophy be made more 'accessible'?
Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery edited by
William Irwin
"...metal up your ass!" - I kid you not, that's a quote from a purportedly serious philosophical work (ref. above)....
5
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0answers
47 views
In which writings does Charles Sanders Peirce generalize the idea of freedom so that it applies to all creatures?
Charles Hartshorne claimed that
Peirce was pretty close to the first philosopher in the world who generalized the idea of freedom so that it applied to all the creatures....
In which writings ...
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0answers
34 views
Recommendation: Second Order Logic textbook
I'm looking into Universalist Realism, Nominalism, Trope theory and the application of Second Order logic to each of them, however I have little/no experience with Second Order logic. Please let me ...
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0answers
45 views
Foucault and scientific revolutions
In the famous debate between Foucault and Chomsky (link), Foucault argues that there is no human nature really because, among other things, a scientific revolution in some science is just a revolution ...
