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1500 questions
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Have any philosophers argued that ad hominems are sometimes valid?
As far as I can tell, the position that ad hominem attacks are always invalid seems to be widespread within the philosophical community. I'm not entirely convinced that this is a reasonable position, however. I agree that many ad hominem attacks are…
goblin GONE
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Which texts might provide a critical introduction or review of contemporary and recent philosophical movements?
I'm intending to read Anthony's Kenny's 4 volume History of Philosopy. I notice though it stops in 1975 which is fair enough I think. You can't have the history of yesterday. However I'm curious to know what of significance would be missing.
I…
Crab Bucket
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What was Einstein's contribution to philosophy?
Daniel Dennett, in a lecture abut Darwin, mentions Newton, Darwin, Skinner, Turing, Gödel, and Einstein as 6 "non-philosophers" who have had a major impact on philosophy. I can see how the other 5 had a major impact, but I don't really understand…
Alexander S King
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Who are some contemporary philosophers outside of the "new atheism" authors who have responded to Plantinga's works?
I'm looking for contemporary philosophers other than those typically labeled as part of the New Atheism movement (i.e., Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Victor J. Stenger) who have responded to some of Alvin…
Vinko Vrsalovic
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8
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2 answers
What is the difference between Naturalism and Physicalism?
I am trying to figure the difference between Naturalism and Physicalism. As far as I could tell, they were the same thing, except that physicalism (physicalist vs dualist) was the term used when discussing philosophy of mind and naturalism was the…
Alexander S King
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8
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7 answers
Where is the universe?
Let's start with what is the universe: the universe is everything that exists - galaxies, stars, planets, matter, energies, etc. So the universe is composed of atomic components and the energies between them. That means that our universe is…
kravemir
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8
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Does 'to believe that P' imply 'to believe that P is true'?
Williams (1973) casually asserts that
to believe that P is to believe that P is true.
He explains what he means by that:
To believe that so and so is one and the same as to believe that that thing is true.
Since the dual component view of…
DBK
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Was the Brain-in-a-Vat thought experiment explored philosophically before Putnam?
On SciFi.SE there's a question about the origins of "captive brains" in literature. Upon seeing the question I presumed it originated as a philosophical thought experiment (and then made it's way to popular culture) but it seems the opposite may be…
dimo414
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Is logic subjective?
If logic is constructed from axioms, and axioms are depended on observation which in term could be subjective, does this means that logic could be limited to our observation, and not really absolute and fundamental?
ecorvo
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8
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What are the philosophical issues with a non-spatial, non-temporal Being creating a spatial, temporal universe?
Gerald O'Collins writes in Rethinking Fundamental Theology, p. 20:
The attributes of God raise numerous questions and difficulties that deserve attention, especially from those with a philosophical cast of mind. Take, for instance, issues raised by…
user2953
8
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2 answers
Did Gödel oppose or agree with the Logical Positivists?
Gödel was a member of the Vienna Circle, whose philosophical position as a group was Logical Positivism, or Logical Empiricism.
The SEP article on him states that among his philosophical views were realism, rationalism, and Platonism. These all…
Alexander S King
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8
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6 answers
What are the problems with the argument for the mind-body dualism from immateriality of thoughts?
I have started studying philosophy of mind and I am currently reading an introduction to the field. The first topic that is presented in the book is dualism of the Cartesian brand, and the case for it is made, roughly, thus:
Material objects are…
Adrian
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Is there any philosophical significance to the arithmetization of infinity?
There are two arithmetics of infinity, ordinal & cardinal. I'm going to focus on the cardinal arithmetic as it requires less structure, that is they need less (i.e., ordinals require the idea of ordering whereas cardinals do not).
Cardinal…
Mozibur Ullah
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8
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What was ancient Philosophy written on/with?
What did ancient philosophers, like Plato, use to write their works on/with, physically? (Tree bark, animal skin, types of writing utensils, etc)
fantom
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What is objective morality?
It has been argued by some that God is a necessary and sufficient condition for objective morality. I can't accept this, because I don't even know what the analysis of moral objectivity is. It seems an ill defined concept. Could someone explain what…
user7348
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