New answers tagged philosophy-of-science
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When does something cease to exist?
You can make it as complicated as you wish, but it simply depends on your definition of "exist" and of the object you are considering. Define that and you have your answer.
Mind you event, ...
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3
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When does something cease to exist?
In the example of the chair, the chair ceases to exist when its component parts no longer serve the human purpose for which the chair was made.
Aristotle found four causes are necessary before change ...
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5
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Is gravity a natural manifestation of universal egoism?
Gravity has nothing whatsoever to do with a philosophical treatment of the condition of humanity. Anyone searching for such a connection is digging a dry well.
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When does something cease to exist?
Simply speaking the move (from existence) to a non-existence state is happening when the object stops interacting with the environment. So in order to answer this question you have do define "...
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What's the justification for holding concrete more than abstractions?
You can consider concrete more real in the sense that many/all people perceive it as real, so it is "used" and/or "referenced" more often. On the other side, ideas and thoughts ...
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Heisenberg, Copenhagen and probability in QM
My own Helsinki interpretation of the Copenhagen interpretation goes like this:
Particles exist only as probability waveforms when they are not interacting with other particles. They are not simple ...
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Paradoxes never exist in nature, so why does the grandfather's paradox make sense in physics?
The Grandfather Paradox exactly aims to draw attention to a contradiction, that if the conditions exist to create closed time-like curves we open the door to a paradox. So we can be pretty sure ...
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4
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Paradoxes never exist in nature, so why does the grandfather's paradox make sense in physics?
Well, if we define "Paradox" as "apparent contradiction in physical descriptions of the universe" then sure. Paradoxes don't exist in nature because a paradox is a contradiction in ...
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Why is a child not a mere extension of their "parent(s)"?
Reproduction is not considered to be "an organism making a copy of itself" for any organism but very primitive species who can reproduce by fission like bacteria or worms. Whether a worm cut ...
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Does the universe have one clock on the wall?
I'd say we can apply Liebniz principle of indiscernability. Every electron is alike and so their innate sense of time is alike. So we get what looks like a universal clock. But in fact, it is a ...
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Does the universe have one clock on the wall?
The strength of the ‘one clock’ argument is that you could build an atomic clock anywhere in the universe and it would appear to an observer that shares its frame of reference to run at the same speed....
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Does the universe have one clock on the wall?
From a street level view, the answer is no, the universe does not have one clock on the wall. Rather, it can be more usefully considered as a multiplicity of ‘clocks all the way down.’ In this view, ...
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When does something cease to exist?
Suppose to light the chair on fire, and it burns, and it turns into ashes. I think the easiest way to understand that philosophically is to not try to draw an infinitely precise line between existing ...
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When does something cease to exist?
IMO this is nothing more than a question about how we define words. If we have a definition of ‘chair’ and something stops meeting that definition then it’s no longer a chair. If we named a group of ...
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3
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Is it possible to reconcile post-structuralism with the scientific method?
You remark, "The dispute is, rather, about the way in which science is given a privileged position as an arbiter of truth." I'll make my response short:
Science is indeed given a privileged ...
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6
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Is it possible to reconcile post-structuralism with the scientific method?
Clearly, we understand the world through language
If by this you mean we understand the world only through language, this is not clear at all. In fact, it is false, because it entirely discounts the ...
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3
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Is it possible to reconcile post-structuralism with the scientific method?
"we are left in a position where topics of critical importance in
medicine and environmental science can be thrown into doubt by
opponents with political axes to grind"
We were going to be ...
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What does philosophy of science say about an example that "supports" a hypothesis but at the same time seriously undermines it?
I shall argue that a phenomenon of weakening positive evidence is coherent epistemologically and has an explanatory capacity in the matters of scientific theory confirmation.
Let us consider a similar ...
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Can functions and dysfunctions exist without teleology?
These article seems to explain what you are asking about:
http://mechanism.ucsd.edu/teaching/w10/cummins.functions.1975.pdf
https://iep.utm.edu/func-exp/
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Understanding the nature of units of measurement
The point of measurements is to make an objective judgement on a property of an object avoiding subjectivity (roughly). This might explain why comparing them is complicated.
For example, imagine a ...
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Does consent exist?
The concept of consent follows logically from the sense of self, without reference to the existence or inexistence of a soul. And the existence of the self is the most indubitable fact there is. One ...
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Does consent exist?
Answer
The simple response is we are not our bodies. Am I no longer me if I lose an arm? It is a classic fallacy to claim that a system is no more than the sum of it's parts, because as the fallacies ...
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3
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Does consent exist?
This actually is a common objection against some versions of physicalism:
If there is nothing but our physical being doing what it does, how can things like "responsibility" or "consent&...
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Does modern science and physics support solipsism?
Agreed that this is not a scientific matter because it is not testable, nor does it yield any simplified models for scientific analysis.
Just came to comment on this question:
Does one actually act ...
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Understanding the nature of units of measurement
A measurement with units is not a counting of units, but a ratio to units. That is: 10 meters is that length which, divided by ten, is the length we call 1 meter. This for example lets us have things ...
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Understanding the nature of units of measurement
Scales of measurement are always conventional: arbitrary, but systematic and functional. They are usually organized into a few types:
Categorical: individual, indivisible objects sorted into groups, ...
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2
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Does modern science and physics support solipsism?
Scientists do not support solipsism because solipsism has no corresponding testable theory.
I do not know any argument which supports solipsism. I recommend any adherent of solipsism to observe him/...
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Understanding the nature of units of measurement
You "pencils" example appear to use pencil itself as the unit. This is somewhat workable in English because English omits the unit for countable objects, and as a result, leaves some open ...
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Accepted
When does 'number' become 'quantity'?
The problem here is etymological, not metaphysical (logical/mathematical).
Quanti-(from quantus) -ty(suffix meaning state of) takes any value, the etymological meaning is "a state of accounting&...
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Can dysfunctional objects preserve their identities?
A spark plug that doesn't work is still a spark plug, but it has a modified definition: it is now a broken spark plug.
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What are the philosophical solutions to "ship of Theseus" problem of identity?
"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same
river and he's not the same man." Heraclitus (apparently)
As @Frog suggests it is a matter of the meaning of words, and in ...
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What are the philosophical solutions to "ship of Theseus" problem of identity?
Suppose Alfred owns a ship moored in the port of Honfleur in France. Suppose Alfred has enough money to pay for repairs to be carried out every day so that a bit of the ship is replaced every day and ...
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