26
votes
An argument that everything exists
You're apparently defining "thing" as "something that exists", which makes the statement "everything exists" a simple tautology and thus not very meaningful.
- 755
16
votes
How does a thought imply there is a thinker in "I think therefore I am"?
The "I" of the Cogito does not stand for Descartes, or for the subject, or for the subject's self. It stands for the thing thinking the Cogito when the subject thinks the Cogito.
The ...
- 5,373
10
votes
Accepted
An argument that everything exists
I recommend distinguishing between object and word (noun): on the one hand, objects exist; they are real. On the other hand,
some words refer to objects while other words do not. Hence all objects ...
- 20.7k
6
votes
An argument that everything exists
Only if you're Humpty Dumpty
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."
From Dictionary....
- 1,341
6
votes
How does a thought imply there is a thinker in "I think therefore I am"?
Who is thinking? You. So you exist.
The "I think therefore I am" is in response to question "What really exist?". The phrase response by saying that "Atleast I exist. I can be ...
- 1,015
6
votes
How can we denote objects that no longer exist?
Existence cannot be a property of an object, because "being a property of X" supposes that X already exists. The object Socrates did exist (essentially) in some period of time and no longer ...
- 2,346
5
votes
Is there any way for me to know if I exist, as such, do I exist?
I don't know if you exist. As a skeptic, I'm pretty confident that you do (that being the most parsimonious explanation for my experience of your question), but I'm not absolutely certain.
On the ...
- 2,758
5
votes
What is the point of Human Existence?
It is very possible that there is no 'point' to human existence, if by that you mean some absolute purpose. Humans have evolved an in-built sense of purpose to survive and procreate. However, the good ...
- 7,368
5
votes
What is the point of Human Existence?
I offer a very Buddhist perspective. Let's get straight to the point - we don't know if life has a point or not. May be a thousand years from now, a person will read your question, this thread, the ...
- 1,978
5
votes
What is the point of Human Existence?
I will be answering this question from the perspective of a nihilistic layman.
I believe from a truly nihilistic perspective "What is the point of human existence" implies there is a point, ...
- 151
4
votes
Is being non existent the same as being zero in quantity
A number applies to a class, rather than to an individual. The number three doesn't apply to each individual vertex of a triangle, rather the number three applies to the class of all of the vertices ...
- 5,962
4
votes
What is existence?
Sticking me poor neck out, here's the etymology for "exist": From ex meaning out of and sistere for stand. Existence then means independent of the mind, to stand outside (the mind). I ...
- 1,978
4
votes
How is the term "existence" even defined for things other than your subjective experience?
I would propose the following demarcation: in your subjective experience, there are things that resist and act as obstacles to your will, or constraints on your subjective experience.
For example, no ...
- 2,346
4
votes
Accepted
Can we know that we are breathing analytically/a priori?
The apriority/experience distinction is not the most well-framed thing in the philosophical world. Your example seems like it could be characterized as introspective, but:
On a narrow account, “...
- 7,994
3
votes
What condition(s) must be met to claim that something exists?
Following Quine, a fairly popular approach to the question of what exists is to say that those things exist that are indispensable to our best scientific theories. On this view, electrons exist ...
- 19.5k
3
votes
On physical existence. Do virtual particles of QFT exist?
According to the current interpretation of QFT, virtual particles
are not physical objects but mathematical artefacts. Virtual
particles arise when applying Feynman‘s pertubation theory to
solve ...
- 20.7k
3
votes
Is there any way for me to know if I exist, as such, do I exist?
It's a cliche question. So it gets cliche answers.
I don't believe in nihilism.
I have long wondered why there are not more hard solipsists.
Sometimes you all go away but I'm always right here.
...
- 1,499
3
votes
Is there an infinite amount of things that are not present?
I suspect that anyone with real training in philosophy, especially analytical, will not find this question meaningful or will be able to readily swat it aside with a closing argument.
It is badly ...
- 12.9k
3
votes
Proving God and believing only provable things
Part 2: If you can't prove something, it doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist. Just look at the Higgs Boson particle and gravitational waves - for decades, their existence was unproven, yet ...
3
votes
How does a thought imply there is a thinker in "I think therefore I am"?
So the idea you're proposing is Hume's bundle theory of self:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundle_theory
ie: there are just a bunch of thoughts/sensations without some entity "having" all ...
- 2,823
3
votes
What is existence?
If I wanted to define "existence" as "that which we encounter but cannot will", what philosophical tradition would that put me in? ... For example, I am aware of this table in ...
- 4,402
3
votes
What is the point of Human Existence?
I have no formal training in philosophy.
For me, this is like asking "What is the purpose of playing chess?." Some might say "to win", but that could be achieved by holding a gun ...
3
votes
How can we denote objects that no longer exist?
When we think rationally (which for the sake of this answer I'll equate to talking or writing), we manipulate or inspect objects. We assign predicates to them and explore their relations.
But these ...
- 1,378
2
votes
Are the A and B theories of time meant to describe actual/ontic/physical reality?
Special Relativity in physics would seem to indicate that the B theory is true. 'Now' is defined differently depending on the observer's state of motion. So if you change which direction you are ...
2
votes
On physical existence. Do virtual particles of QFT exist?
Some other interesting examples are:
The wave-function of quantum particles, given we can only take measurements that indicate it, never measure it.
Dark-matter, which has no direct observations ...
- 16.3k
2
votes
What condition(s) must be met to claim that something exists?
There are several accounts of existence. The two most popular are probably the classical notion and the Frege/Russel notion.
The classical notion is that existence is something that some objects have ...
- 5,962
2
votes
What condition(s) must be met to claim that something exists?
What condition(s) must be met to claim that something exists?
The conditions for making any claim whatsoever are that you be able to make that claim. This is probably not the answer you are looking ...
- 5,373
2
votes
What is "Nothing"?
Nothing is not something humans, in general, have access to. The moment you have the word nothing, you have something. A single thought is a million miles away from nothing. To sit down and ...
- 650
2
votes
What is "Nothing"?
The moment we give "nothing" a description or definition, it becomes something.
One possible way to work around this apparent problem is to flip it on its head and ask "how does ...
- 4,732
2
votes
Any modern context for Boethius' two types of now?
Similar content from David Hoy's The Time of Our Lives, page 43 :
Hegel has two other arguments that supplement his attempt to
problematize the Now. The first concerns the fleeting character of the
...
- 4,402
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible