114
votes
Accepted
Fundamental idea on proving God's existence with science
I think part of the problem is: Science doesn't prove anything. Science, at its core, is simply a method of generating testable hypothesis that explain events, which are valued because of their use ...
- 1,204
29
votes
Accepted
Does True Randomness actually exist?
Like you, I think most uses of the terms 'probable' and 'random' are just epistemic, i.e. they relate to how much information we have. We say of a toss of a coin that it is random, and that there is a ...
- 22.1k
29
votes
Why can't numbers be 'used up'?
Does a song get 'used up' when we sing it? Does a story get 'used up' when we read it? Does a path get 'used up' when we walk it?
Forgive the computer science analogy here, but all of these things — ...
- 18k
26
votes
Are we living in a simulation? The evidence
I would like to argue that the topic (especially the search for proof for it) is rather useless. With a search for evidence, this topic is very similar to the topic of the search for evidence that God ...
- 3,806
18
votes
Why can't numbers be 'used up'?
Actually, your young student friend may be contemplating an astoundingly subtle notion. Linear logic (invented (or is it discovered?) by Jean-Yves Girard) is a substructural logic that's resource-...
- 565
17
votes
Fundamental idea on proving God's existence with science
Attempts to show that God exists by looking at nature such as the Kalam Cosmological Argument can only assert "generic theism", as you rightly point out. If the argument holds, then how ...
- 4,055
15
votes
Are we living in a simulation? The evidence
I propose that we cannot know whether we are living in a simulation.
One of the ways to detect a simulation supposedly is to detect errors from the inside. But there is no reason whatsoever to ...
- 1,876
15
votes
What essential properties make us human?
Introductory remarks
This is subject to debate and there is no definite answer. The general consensus is that no definite set of properties can possibly be given and if it is done, these sets are ...
- 13.1k
15
votes
Accepted
Does Mitosis division break the Leibniz law of Identity?
They differ in that they are in different position, just as the two copied files differ by being in different locations. Position is a property and therefore they are not identical.
In fact, the ...
- 1,938
13
votes
Accepted
Why do modern materialists tend to favor determinism?
I tend to share your puzzlement. A lot of contemporary metaphysicians seem to have an outdated view of physics, not only about determinism but also about locality or mereology. (This was criticized by ...
- 5,830
11
votes
Does omniscience necessarily entail omnipotence?
It may be impossible to save oneself. An omniscient being would know that. So omniscient and yet not omnipotent.
- 2,880
10
votes
What does Kant mean by "Existence is not a predicate"?
Mathematical logic, and the associated notion of the existential quantifier, were invented only after Kant's time. Kant used other, more traditional concepts.
The ontological proof (or at least the ...
- 7,291
10
votes
Fundamental idea on proving God's existence with science
Trying to prove, scientifically, that God exists is probably a bit pointless but it's not necessarily absurd.
As with most of science. there's no requirement to try to find a theory of everything in ...
- 1,778
10
votes
Accepted
Sum ergo cogito?
Does thinking imply existing? Descartes argues yes: it is impossible for anything to think which does not exist.
Does existing imply thinking? Most people would say no. Most would say that a rock ...
- 1,563
9
votes
Accepted
Did Kant come to believe that we have access to things-in-themselves after all?
TL;DR: No, he did not!
To be precise, things-in-themselves may be objects of thought, i.e. abstract concepts of the realm of logic, and therefore concepts of transcendental philosophy as logically ...
- 13.1k
9
votes
Are there philosophies that call for things which are not mind nor matter?
The question refers to ontology. The classification matter or mind is a strong simplification.
Popper advocated a tripartition with
world 1: physical objects and events
world 2: mental objects and ...
- 20.8k
9
votes
What are the counterexamples to Kant's argument that existence is not a predicate?
There are no counterexamples to Kant's "argument" because it is not an argument. It is a view of predication under which being/existence is not a "real" predicate discussed in ...
- 42.3k
9
votes
Are we living in a simulation? The evidence
To focus on the title of the question, there is rather little active research being done around this question, but I'll share what I know.
First is a paper from 2012, Constraints on the Universe as a ...
- 425
9
votes
Fundamental idea on proving God's existence with science
First, I agree with the claim stated in the currently most upvoted answer that the natural sciences do not prove things in the way that the formal sciences, like logic, math, and computer science, ...
- 2,689
9
votes
Is there any philosophical theory behind the concept of object in computer science?
If you are asking whether ontology had an influence on what are called objects in computer science, then the answer is probably "no". I was reasonably familiar with the literature from the ...
- 6,873
8
votes
How can the physical world be an abstract mathematical structure a la Tegmark?
Douglas Hofstadter would call this a strange loop. If one believes mathematics can "fully describe" reality, one can make a pitch to claim that reality is a subset of mathematics. Empirically, these ...
- 17.4k
8
votes
What does "physical" mean to philosophers?
This question seems to be a companion to How can something non-physical exist? Some preliminary thoughts: acknowledging the existence of empirical, or even confining physical to empirical, does not ...
- 42.3k
8
votes
Accepted
What is put on what (the mayo or the eggs) and why?
Narrowly construed the OP question is easy to answer and is not really philosophical, it concerns the colloquial semantics of "put X on Y". According to which, whatever goes on top or on the surface ...
- 42.3k
8
votes
Are we living in a simulation? The evidence
Of course it is possible that you are "living" in a simulation right now!
I'd say it is about 50% chance. we call it dreaming and it happens every night.
Well, you might say, that is pure ...
- 4,531
8
votes
What is actual is a metaphysical necessity?
I suggest a distinction. If X happened - you poured a glass of water on December 13 2018 at 10.57 hrs - the truth that it happened is a necessary truth in the sense that it is impossible for that ...
- 35.3k
8
votes
How does one determine the boundary of an object?
It's a pragmatic thing more than a linguistic thing.
If you want to go to the store, you think about your car
If your car won't drive, you think about what part of it is at fault: engine, ...
- 18k
8
votes
Why can't numbers be 'used up'?
Monkey Brain
Although it seems trivial at first, there are a few interesting implications about his question, why do we talk about abstract ideas as if they are real objects?
Because that is the ...
- 539
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