Philosophy

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27 views

Is the fact that there are qualia something internal or external?

I'm struggling to digest the SEP article on qualia. Is anyone saying that there being qualia is something about the world which exists independent of conscious awareness (knowledge and perception)? ...
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1answer
52 views

Does the real line mean that the start and end points of any line must exist?

In mathematics, a real number is a value of a continuous quantity that can represent a distance along a line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_number We consider the set of real numbers, ...
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8answers
256 views

Can anyone recommend a good book on The Self?

I don't have any formal education on philosophy but I read some books including Think by Simon Blackburn that got me interested in this subject. Thanks. Edit: Specifically, I was intrigued by Kant's ...
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2answers
106 views

Does all information about you belong to you? [closed]

This is a multi-faceted topic, one that sprawls many fields, from computer science to law, but I will attempt to be brief. Does information about you belong to you? In today's society, the topics of ...
3
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0answers
54 views

What is the strongest link made in the philosophical literature between privacy and civil liberties?

What is the strongest link made in the philosophical literature between privacy and civil liberties? In particular, an analysis which eschews 'democracy', or separates out democracy from 'civil ...
2
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2answers
71 views

What are some good English translations of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

I have acquired a desire to read Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, but I do not read Sanskrit and I do not know which translations should be trusted. What are high quality translations of the Brihadaranyaka ...
4
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2answers
179 views

Why do I doubt my logical reasoning?

I have been wondering for several years why I just can't trust my own proofs in math or when giving some logical arguments. I keep thinking I might be making a mistake at some step of the proof and ...
2
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0answers
66 views

Is there no basis for differentiating a personal from a historical narrative?

Is there no basis for differentiating a personal from a historical narrative? My narrative is a mess, so I'd like to get to grips with the question, ideally as it links to literature. Who in ...
2
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4answers
393 views

Why does Descartes think that we know our mind better than we know our body?

According to Descartes we know our own mind better than we know bodies. Why does he think so? How can this view be criticized?
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0answers
64 views

What Are Some Recurring Questions/Themes That Are Explored or Argued for in Renaissance Philosophy?

I suppose this is not necessarily a question, rather I'm looking for inspiration for writing a research paper. I have been assigned with the task of: "Submit a research paper, using at least 3 ...
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1answer
111 views

Is there the creator overseeing us all. How does He do that? [closed]

Is there the creator overseeing us all. How does He do that? Is that possible due to His omnipresence and being independent of 3+1D (x, y, z, ct) limitations? My previous question and related to ...
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3answers
124 views

Can we look forward to being dead? [closed]

Can we look forward to being dead, self annihilation? Seems like we should be able to, but I'm not sure that we can without confusing ourselves about selfhood. Does anyone say we can't?
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9answers
1k views

Why am I this particular human being?

Some philosophers dismiss this as a question about a tautology: when Alice asks "Why am I Alice?", this is equivalent to her asking "Why is Alice Alice?", which is not an interesting question. But ...
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1answer
153 views

Where does the sense of self come from?

We human beings experience a sense of identity, an inner personality. I assume Machines and computers do not. Animals also seem to possess consciousness and some sort of sense of self. Where does ...
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2answers
99 views

Conundrum of the self?

I've been thinking about this topic in relation to artificial consciousness. Specifically self-awareness. (I can define terms precisely if requested, but usually prefer to be as general as possible:)...
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1answer
45 views

Collective Being

If, as a Collective of embodied selves (eSelves) we voted for ideas instead of individual eSelves - the objective being to construct a Reality that resonates with Existence itself - what would that ...
4
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1answer
213 views

What does Ortega y Gasset mean by “art is dehumanizing”?

In "Man and People", Ortega discusses the dehumanization of art, which is made confusing from his repeated switching between speaking literally and speaking philosophically, and by virtue of his work ...
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2answers
67 views

To whom are people talking when they talk to (in) themselves? [closed]

It's commonly said that one is talking to (in) his- or himself. Does that mean there are two of the person in question: the one who's talking and the one who's listening?
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1answer
81 views

How do I find a philosophy to define my current beliefs?

I recently went from Christianity to Agnosticism. I already know what I do and don't believe: I don't believe in fate. I believe that people should respect each other because life is short. I don't ...
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2answers
91 views

What is the term for the belief that everyone acts entirely selfishly

There is a term I heard someone use to describe the idea that no none acts selflessly. So under this belief, a mother giving some food to her child, and going hungry herself, only does so because the ...
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1answer
149 views

What areas within philosophy look at continuity of personality and self-hood?

I'm sure these kinds of questions fall within some fairly central fields of philosophy: what makes "me now" and "me 10 seconds, months, or decades ago", the same person? In what sense are these "the ...
5
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2answers
323 views

How does Kant rule out permanent soul in his argument for the existence of external world?

I have been studying Stephan Körner's intro to Kant's philosophy. I'm not sure if in the following excerpt I make sense of the reasoning quoted from Kant. In fact, I wonder how the permanence must be ...
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1answer
98 views

What's the purpose of listening/share other people/own music?

For psychology and physics motivations, I'll never get the whole idea about a piece of music made by other peoples (it won't translate from his mind to my mind; even because what I'll listening, even ...
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1answer
66 views

Is it a good idea to write a Philosophical essay when you know the conclusion will not be satisfying? [closed]

Is it a good idea to write a philosophical essay when you know the conclusion will not be satisfying? I have a dilemma (pun intended). I am asked to write an essay of just 1 page. Well, easy peasy ...
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3answers
671 views

Gender roles - do they matter?

This may well be too broad (spreading over into psychology too), I'll try to narrow it down as I outline my thinking but any advice is welcome. I began by thinking about how its unfair if you ...
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1answer
213 views

Why does Nagasena reject Attributes + Dependence on Constituents Parts, as a Substance?

Source: p 362 Top. Introducing Philosophy for Canadians: A Text with Integrated Readings (2011 1 ed). Nagasena's point? As it is with 'chariot', so it is with 'person'. Like 'chariot', 'person' ...
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1answer
49 views

Who are the leading thinkers, both past and present, on the subject of self-deception?

I'm interested more in the philosophical perspective, rather than the evolutionary aspect like Robert Trivers presents.
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1answer
115 views

Do alternative theories of self eventually dissolve into either the substance theory or the bundle theory?

It seems upon first glance that attitudes towards the existence of the self must either be defending the notion that it exists in its own right as a real thing imbued with sensible and rational power (...
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4answers
146 views

Can you argue that you are not selfish?

Psychological egoism, can anyone provide an everyday action which a healthy human mind would carry out which doesn't have the motive of preservation of the individuals own life at heart? For example, ...
4
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1answer
483 views

Does materialism presuppose that a self is a bundle of mental states and perceptions?

The physicalist/materialist (going forward I'll use the two interchangeably) position on the mind body problem is the following: Nothing exits besides the physical and therefore the mind is just a ...
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2answers
423 views

How can you imagine yourself in another state, without mentally transporting yourself to that imagined state?

Preface: I capitalised all italics; the book only italicised. Source: pp 141-142 , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy (1 ed, 1999) by Simon Blackburn   But suppose instead I am not ...
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1answer
76 views

When 'I' is used as a subject, why do we disuse 'I' and so create an illusion?

Caution: I probably quoted overmuch; please feel free to omit the first few paragraphs and advise what can be omitted. Source: pp 137-138 , Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy (1 ed, 1999) ...
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2answers
210 views

How does mind discovers its own existence?

By mind I mean the observer, the self, something that perceive. I hope that you understand because I can't find the right word. So, your mind can observe the external existence, and can observe its ...
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6answers
314 views

How can we let go of one (the Self) and not the other (Free Will)? [duplicate]

I am under the impression that in western culture, it is quite common to conceive the Self as an illusion — probably as an import from eastern religions, and in particular from Buddhism, and in ...
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1answer
57 views

According to Humean analysis, if self-identity is but a stream of impressions, than what allows for imagination and associations to begin with?

Imagination is the recollection of certain impressions. But it seems necessary to believe that there is a difference between the recollection of certain impressions and the actual experience of ...
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3answers
833 views

What are some good books about existential philosophy?

I recently have gained a lot of interest in philosophy and have especially taken to Nietzsche's work and ideas. I am reading philosophy to understand on a more personal level to lead a more fulfilled ...
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1answer
1k views

Aristotle and Charles Taylor's view of the self

I watched the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Jim Carrey, and was asked: Do you think think erasing another from one's memory, as in the film, is a form of erasing oneself? Answer ...
2
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1answer
863 views

What is the philosophical definition of a person? [closed]

What defines us as people? as individuals? Names? I don't really think so, I mean even if I change my name, I'm still the same person. Memories? so if I lose my memory, then I'll become another ...
2
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2answers
155 views

Philosophy describing a deeper reasoning for how to act toward others than feelings or personal gain?

Utilitarianism seems to be based on personal gain or positive / negative emotion. Why help others? It makes you feel good, or it makes the world a better place which may benefit you with good ...
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3answers
301 views

What is the best philosophical expression for the “mutual containment” of mind and body?

The old "ouroboros" of mind and body reappears in various forms. Basically, the world is formed within consciousness; consciousness is formed within the brain; the brain is formed within the world. ...
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2answers
120 views

How to find a purpose at life [closed]

Just watched the How to Know Your Life Purpose in 5 Minutes: Adam Leipzig at TEDxMalibu He talks about 3 questions. Who you are ?(%90) What do you love to do "X" ? (%80) Who do you do "X" for ? ( ...
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6answers
2k views

Can you exist in two places at once?

One idea in H+ is that a person's consciousness can be digitized to outlive its human body. I think the assumption is that everything that you consciously are is just the emergent configuration of ...
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3answers
123 views

Can a person's 'sense of self' be transported across spacetime?

Let us assume that transportation of human beings (and other objects) is possible (maybe in the future), and we have the technology to do so. (Please don't debate the scientific plausibility of this.) ...
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4answers
199 views

If the atoms of a person's body change every x number of years, should the person be prosecuted today for a crime that he/she committed x years ago?

I saw this question somewhere in the Internet(I forgot the source) and I think this forum is a good place to ask it. According to what I know, the atoms in a persons body are replaced every certain ...
4
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5answers
583 views

Buddhism self, no-self and the middle path. [closed]

I have come across several articles attempting to define the concept of no-self, not-self and self. These articles include http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/if-there-is-no-self http://www....
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4answers
2k views

Would a clone of myself be a different person than myself? [closed]

don't know if anyone will read this, but just a random thought I had: Try to imagine the following: you wake up in a hospital bed, with no recollection of how you got there. You look over at the bed ...
4
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4answers
140 views

Is the word “I” a dangling linguistic pointer with no actual referent?

Is the word "I" a dangling linguistic pointer with no actual referent? Otherwise, what exactly is this slippery referent? Could it be possible the phrase "I am" is meaningless due to a lack of an ...
1
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1answer
399 views

What is the concept of knowing one's own abilities?

For example, I know that I am strong enough to pick up a feather, but that I am unable to lift up a car. I'm unsure if this is self-awareness, because it does not cover the conscious knowledge of ...
5
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3answers
361 views

Does the existence of colors give evidence against materialism?

It seems to me the only thing about colors that can be understood rationally is that they are distinct. We interact with other people who for the most part label my red as their red, my green as their ...
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1answer
138 views

the self as agency is a brain function or a kind of solid entity, a soul? [duplicate]

Blockquote Sense of agency From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The "sense of agency" (SA) refers to the subjective awareness that one is initiating, executing, and controlling one's own volitional ...

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