All Questions
2,952
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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156
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Seeking references on the ontological basis of 'cultural appropriation' to cure my confusion
Disclaimer: Cultural appropriation is an emotionally charged topic and is criticized by a number of intellectuals, and my intent is to determine the philosophical grounding of the topic through vetted ...
3
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34
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What kind of homo/isomorphism, if any, applies to a certain pair of pairs of permission types?
The SEP article on deontic logic mentions at least once or twice that there seem to be two types of permissibility (also a difference between "ought" and "must," to note). Over the ...
3
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2
answers
166
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What does it mean for something to “break” infinite regress?
When it comes to the cosmological argument, proponents point out that a first cause is needed to stop an infinite regress of causes.
In epistemology, foundationalism is used to break the infinite ...
3
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45
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Is the clear/unclear distinction itself clear, unclear, or something else?
Suppose that clarity occurs for two representations when one attends to what makes the representations different. (This is, to my knowledge, a somewhat common or accepted "definition" of ...
3
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53
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Physicalist Critiques of Error Theory
Mackie’s Error Theory makes two parallel arguments that moral qualities have no place in a naturalistic understanding of our universe. That (1) such a bizarre epistemic power unlike any other we ...
3
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118
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Husserlian Critiques of Scheler
It’s known that although Max Scheler’s phenomenology was heavily inspired by Husserl, he was no student of Husserl. So, the two had disagreements on how to do phenomenology. While I’m acutely aware of ...
3
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5
answers
270
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Does quantum mechanics rule out the principle of sufficient reason?
The Principle of Sufficient Reason is a philosophical principle stipulating that everything must have a reason, cause, or ground. My question is: does quantum mechanics serve as evidence against it as ...
3
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160
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Difference between Propositions and Statements
I have read the answers to many questions like mine I reached these two definitions of propositions (I don't know which one is correct)
A proposition is a statement that can be true or false.
If this ...
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75
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If the modern understanding of the categorical/hypothetical distinction is better than Kant's, does this undermine the categorical imperative?
In first-order logic (FOL), we have dedicated connectives for conditionals and disjunctions. Again in FOL, we can turn a conditional into a disjunction, though. Frege's logic has a judgment stroke, or ...
3
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77
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Does Nelson Goodman’s strictures against similarity show that natural kinds don’t exist?
Natural kinds are kinds that correspond to a grouping that reflects the structure of the natural world rather than the interests and actions of human beings.
But for a kind or grouping to exist, the ...
3
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2
answers
119
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Can there be such a thing as pure a priori thinking?
Having read Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and in fact just finishing a second read after some time, I've been trying to develop a suitable "worldview" about the structure of the mind.
I ...
3
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1
answer
151
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Does Descartes exclude madness from his meditations?
For Descartes, is madness fundamentally different to dreaming?
Reading these blog posts (I am unfamiliar with the discussion really), which has a few points against Foucault's analysis that it is ...
3
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42
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Kant and "the causes of living"
Once upon a time, I was thinking about the argument for the justification of mass civilian killing that is read off a sense of collective responsibility in "evil nations," and wondered:
If ...
3
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96
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Is there a Formal discipline of tying Logic Puzzles to Mathematical Equations?
I am attempting to find the answer to a long standing question in mathematics, known as the Collatz Conjecture.
In this attempt, I’ve figured for myself, in a way that I haven’t seen produced anywhere ...
3
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51
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The “what” determines the “how”, although in the long run the “how” determines the “what”
I recently stumbled upon a quote from Heinrich Neuhaus' book 'Art of Piano Playing' that got me thinking:
'The "what" determines the "how", although in the long run the "how&...
3
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39
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What are some ways of understanding plural predication (and what are some academic resources on the matter)?
The particular case I'm thinking about has to do with existence. Peter Van Inwagen writes:
'When I say that affirmation of existence is denial of the number zero, I
mean only that to say that Fs exist ...
3
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1
answer
62
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Can vague concepts have a modality?
Can vague concepts, which I am thinking of as concepts without boundaries, though there are I assume other ways of thinking about them, be necessary, especially if that modality changes?
Supposing it'...
3
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2
answers
86
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Looking for source of quote: People that cannot distinguish rocks from coconuts exhibit a pitiable but praiseworthy tendency to die ,,,
I'd like to find the author and source of a quote. I recall it as:
People that cannot distinguish rocks from coconuts exhibit a pitiable but praiseworthy tendency to die before reproducing their kind.
3
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1
answer
196
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How is asymmetry of metaphor an important part of object-oriented ontology?
I am reading Graham Harman's Object-Oriented Ontology: A New Theory of Everything. I'm finding it interesting and a lot of the ideas resonate, although I'm quite sure I don't completely understand it.
...
3
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0
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33
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How did Baudrillard justify the existence of a "fundamental" reality?
The postmodern semiotic concept of hyperreality was contentiously coined by Baudrillard in Simulacra and Simulation. Baudrillard defined "hyperreality" as "the generation by models of a ...
3
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91
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Harm Principle and Duty to Rescue - Which "baseline" should an action be compared against when assessing harm?
Preface
("What isn't my question")
As prominently articulated by Mill, liberalism (and the harm principle) asserts that it is always bad for aggregate utility to coercively interfere in ...
3
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48
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Are there modal operators that don't take a proposition as an argument?
All of the modal propositions I can think of are most reasonably analyzed as a modal operator applied to a proposition, and possibly other arguments. In the following examples, I'll write the ...
3
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3
answers
199
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How to recognize a fictional strong AI?
Intro
We (collectively, as humanity) have given quite a lot of thought to recognizing artificial conscious beings. We may not have a consensus, but at least we have a debate.
Now, let's imagine that a ...
3
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45
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How does Fichte account for the existence of inter-subjective reality?
I have read many entries on Fichte online. There is never any reference to the question of the origin of inter-subjective reality. How do we apparently see the same world?
There does not seem to be ...
3
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83
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Does anyone distinguish linguistic univocity/analogy from metaphysical univocity/analogy?
Classical Theists (and other Realists) inherit Plato's Theory of Forms, and posit the existence of Forms such as Goodness, Truth, Beauty, Justice, and so on. Non-Christian Realists might say these ...
3
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93
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How does Hegel's Ontology overcome issues in Spinoza's?
I'm trying to write a paper and I've tried to reconstruct an argument about this on my own with no luck so far. It's about Hegel's criticism of Spinoza.
As far as I understand, Hegel's main critique ...
3
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251
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Seeking insights on the origin of the term "Peripatetic Axiom"
I have been researching the origins of the "Peripatetic Axiom," which states that nothing is in the mind that was not first in the senses. While I understand that this principle was first ...
3
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answers
38
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Is Levinas only interested in kind of universal Otherness?
Do I "encounter" the Other if I do not know what my "responsibilities" to them are?
rather than formulating an ethical theory, Levinas developed his philosophy in opposition to ...
3
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87
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Do use/mention errors actually happen?
It is commonplace to see warnings in introductory philosophy texts about not confusing use and mention, but I can't imagine how any reasonably analytical thinker could make such an error, so I've ...
3
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98
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Gnosis vs. Episteme - Is there a change over time periods in Ancient Greek Philosophy?
"Episteme" is the word of choice in Plato, generally (although there are a few instances of "Gnosis" here and there)
By contrast, "Gnosis" is far more frequent among ...
3
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1
answer
69
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Help with formalization of argument (ignore premises) in FOL
I am trying to formalize the following argument:
Every Moral theory is equally valid.
There always can get a new moral theory from another one.
For something to be metaphysically real/exists it must ...
3
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answers
54
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Kant's transcendental apperception and 'ipseity' in phenomenology
In the writings of various phenomenologists, the concept of 'ipseity' is widely discussed. As far as I can make out from various sources (e.g. Zahavi, Subjectivity and Selfhood, esp. chapter 5), ...
3
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49
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Does David Hume hold an opinion on the kinds of objects of causation?
I'm reading about causality in the Treatise of Human Nature by D. Hume but I can't seem to find out exactly what he considers objects to be when talking about causes and effects. At some points he ...
3
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4
answers
226
views
What are an object's properties?
What can we consider an object's properties, for example, when can we consider an object's properties as 'changing'? For example, if I move an object from my desk to my table, has it changed? If I ...
3
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5
answers
160
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Is the moment of change numerically identical with the time it occurs?
Is the moment of change numerically identical with the time it occurs?
If the moment of change is today at noon, is that the exact same time as today at noon, whatever it is else happens then?
It may ...
3
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82
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Propositions XXI/XXII of the Ethics, part I - Making sure everything is eternal and infinite
I'm currently reading the George Eliot's translation of the Ethics, edited by Clare Carlisle, and I am french, so I'm not 100% certain I can trust what I think I understood.
Since everything follows ...
3
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107
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How could second-order logic satisfy (neo) Fregean's epistemic goal?
Recently I've been reading Shapiro's Higher Order Logic in The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic, Chapter 25. There are some paragraphs confusing me:
One traditional goal of ...
3
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2
answers
71
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Why is the argument from synthetic a priori cognition to the subjectivity of what is cognized independent of the "appearance" premise?
In Paul Guyer's Kant, section "A Life in Work", the author claims this:
this argument from synthetic a priori cognition to the subjectivity of what is cognized is independent of the general ...
3
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0
answers
174
views
Have the indispensability arguments been examined for probability theory?
Indispensability arguments are widely known in the philosophy of mathematics, the idea being (roughly) that we should commit to the existence of those mathematical entities that are indispensable for ...
3
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0
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145
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Did Heidegger claim that his "inauthenticity" was to some extent unavoidable for the individual?
Did Heidegger claim that his "inauthenticity" was to some extent unavoidable for the individual? I think I know that Sartre's bad faith was a necessary feature of overcoming it.
Is the ...
3
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0
answers
153
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Truth/actuality as an operator
Frege claimed that "it is true that" adds nothing to the actual meaning of an assertion, and following him along this line are prosentential theories of truth. However, I wonder if this is ...
3
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0
answers
211
views
Are there any resources that discuss the relevance of mathematical fields/problems to philosophy?
I've been enjoying reading Scott Aaronson's paper Why Philosophers Should Care About Computational Complexity. The paper discusses how the field of computational complexity is of major relevance to ...
3
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91
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What does it mean for T-biconditionals to be derivable unrestrictedly?
I have been reading Leitgeb's What Theories of Truth Should be Like, and one of the desiderata for a theory of truth, he argues, is to have unrestricted derivable T-biconditionals. But I am having ...
3
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95
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Is there an analogue of MathSciNet for philosophy?
MathSciNet is a mathematical database for papers and books on the various branches of math. Is there something analogous for philosophy? That is, is there a philosophical database for papers and books ...
3
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504
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What is Camus' criticism of Husserl's phenomology and of Kierkegaard's thought?
I have not been able to grasp these concepts. Specifically, I am referring to the third chapter of the Myth of Sisyphus: "The philosophical suicide".
I have understood that Camus's critic on ...
3
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39
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Cassirer and the Categorical Imperative
I've been reading some of the shorter works of the neo-Kantian and proto-semiologist Ernst Cassirer. While I find him a valuable bridge across the "continental divide," I'm not sure yet that ...
3
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69
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Is it logically coherent to imagine a person who has no prior conception of the world?
I'm working my way through An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, and I've come to realize there's a specific problem I've had with several philosophers' writings: they tend to assume as part of ...
3
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1
answer
337
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Would sublime landscapes give Coleridge "humble feelings" or "sublime feelings"?
Lately I've been reading and rereading The Abolition of Man, by C. S. Lewis. He opens by discussing "the well-known story of Coleridge at the waterfall" and the way that an English textbook ...
3
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117
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First-order semantics for plural logic
There are commonly thought to be two kinds of set-theoretic semantics for second-order logic: the standard one, where relation (and function) variables range over the entire power set of a model ...
3
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196
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Why are there 8 Deductions, and not 6, in Plato's Parmenides?
In Plato's Parmenides, we have the 8 Deductions that go something like this (this applies, as best as I can see, to both the standard and non-standard models that the SEoP describes. All this is ...