11
votes
Is mathematical truth empirical?
Mathematics is not empirical: A mathematical proof is independent from any experience. It only relies on the correct application of the usual or a refined logic. To check new and original ideas on a ...
- 36.9k
9
votes
How do empiricists explain the existence of perceptual illusions?
I think that empiricists would not deny that they may be deceived. Indeed, philosophy of science generally holds an "all models are wrong" sort of attitude.
The key defining aspect of ...
- 528
8
votes
Does philosophy shed any light on how parties can fruitfully debate without an agreed source of truth?
From a purely epistemological point of view, no, philosophy is not really helpful. If anything, philosophy makes things worse. See this post and this post and the responses to it.
From a social point ...
- 27.7k
8
votes
Have I contradicted the "law" non-contradiction?
No, you did not contradict LNC. In your program (( A == A ) and (A != A)) is true, but you also changed the function of '==' and '!=' so that '!=' is not longer a negation of '==':
Your '==' function ...
- 6,616
8
votes
Is there "empirical" distance without "mathematical" distance?
The mathematical concept of distance is an abstraction of the physical experience of distance. As such, we can use the mathematical concept to discuss 'distance' between things that are non-physical ...
- 21.8k
8
votes
Is there "empirical" distance without "mathematical" distance?
Are formal notions our best models of that experience of what we see with a ruler, or can we go further by saying that they are the same thing?
Many people used to believe that empirical distance ...
- 2,224
7
votes
Does science provide the most accurate depiction of reality for analyzing and describing an accurate worldview?
The word "best" implies value judgments, and can't be evaluated independent of your goals for your worldview. But there are clear practical and pragmatic reasons why science is currently a dominant ...
- 30.4k
7
votes
How to not fear the supernatural?
Considering you are aware you need professional help, please take this speculation with a skeptical and critical mind.
In order for this question to belong to this Philosophy group, I would formulate ...
- 7,890
6
votes
Accepted
What is the contrast between Hume's and Locke's philosophies of science?
There are two related major differences between Locke and Hume, their focus and their conception of science. Locke's is focused on the knowledge new experimental science provides, he is interested in ...
- 43.7k
6
votes
Accepted
What did the Greeks call the "trial and error" reasoning process?
"Trial and error" applied not to a "reasoning process" but to medical practice, and the name of the practice was derived from Greek ἐμπειρία, experience. The inspiration for the approach apparently ...
- 43.7k
5
votes
Can there be information without a "knower"?
An objective, "mind-independent", view is a staple of physics, but so is the possibility of observation. The information lost in burning is not entirely unrecoverable, it is recoverable in theory, and ...
- 43.7k
5
votes
Accepted
What are the philosophical consequences of employing computers to do science and mathematics?
Since the epistemological and methodological issues are similar with simulations, which are computer extended analogs of thought experiments, and computer assisted proofs I will only focus on the ...
- 43.7k
5
votes
Does philosophy shed any light on how parties can fruitfully debate without an agreed source of truth?
Here are the questions regarding the extreme partisanship of politics today:
Is there any philosophical thinking which might help resolve these disputes and allow the political discussion to move ...
- 19.6k
5
votes
What is the origin of sense data?
A good start is here at the SEP's Sense Data, and since I'm no expert, I'd encourage you to read it and prefer it where my answer differs.
In the classic conception, our representations are free of ...
- 31.5k
5
votes
Accepted
How to not fear the supernatural?
Cognitive bias
Recognising our cognitive biases can help us deal with fears of things that don't seem to exist.
A bias towards unjustified fear helped us in ancient times, so evolution selected for ...
- 11.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Is there an evil god?
Arguments against supernatural claims
One of the main arguments against supernatural claims in general is a lack of good evidence supporting the claim.
The principle of parsimony (or Occam's razor) ...
- 11.7k
4
votes
How did philosophy react to empirical psychology when there have been disagreements?
I am going to disagree with other posters, in my view in the last two centuries the interplay between philosophy and psychology was intricate, and with profound impact on both sides, of all sciences ...
- 43.7k
4
votes
Accepted
How could Wittgenstein not rule out that there was a rhinoceros in the living room?
There seems to be no established explanation of Wittgenstein's rhinoceros, just speculations. I may as well add one of my own :) (I don't know whether the following explanation has been offered before)...
- 7,419
4
votes
Measurement devices and empiricism
First, there's an article on measurement in science in the Stanford Encyclopedia.
The sociologist Harry Collins dubbed this problem "the experimenter's regress" in the 1980s. There's a brief ...
- 2,566
4
votes
Accepted
Empiricism out the door
David Hume wrote this line in his character Cleanthes's voice, in Part One of Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion:
Whether your scepticism be as absolute and sincere as you pretend, we shall ...
- 5,546
4
votes
Is it (not) possible to know causality from empirical knowledge?
The idea that we cannot see or 'perceive' causal connections is historically most closely associated with Hume. Hume's point was that the concept of causation as ordinarily used contains the ...
- 35.9k
4
votes
Empiricism vs Irrationalism
Empiricism and reason
'Empiricism' has as many meanings as there are empiricists. But if we take empiricism as the view that all knowledge derives ultimately from sense experience, which has some ...
- 35.9k
4
votes
Is there "empirical" distance without "mathematical" distance?
Is there empirical distance without mathematical distance?
Yes. A toddler might have the experience of distance (e.g. Goo, goo... so this is what movement feels like!), without having created the ...
- 7,890
4
votes
Is there "empirical" distance without "mathematical" distance?
Short Answer
Is there "empirical" distance without "mathematical" distance?
Broadly construed, yes. Distance as related by the senses, that which is perceptual, is different than ...
- 31.5k
4
votes
Can empiricists and materialists accept metaphysical modality?
Interesting question!
What you are talking about seems to be addressed by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. According the Epistemology of Modality (SEP):
Kant famously argued that what is a ...
- 31.5k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the relationship between the scientific experimental method and the two espistemologies of empiricism and rationalism
The terms you are using are somewhat ambiguous. Here is a bit of clarification:
The first Empiricists were physicians of classical Greece who opposed the theories of the sort used by Hippocratic ...
- 11k
4
votes
How do empiricists explain the existence of perceptual illusions?
Cut-out the two figures and place them side-by-side. You can verify
that the two lines have the same lenght.
This fact speaks against the original visual appearance of different lenght.
We prefer the ...
- 36.9k
4
votes
Have there been attempts at modeling 'essential reality'?
Your "essential reality" sounds a lot like observations of the world given the presupposition of phenomenology as emanating from direct realism. It presumes that somehow, we are in direct ...
- 31.5k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible