Comments

  • What is the way to deal with inequalities?
    Confucius emphasizes the importance of genuine hearts.
    Morality, according to him, is the inherent expression of genuine hearts.
    Without genuine hearts, morality becomes hypocritical.
    I'm uncertain if 'stipulated' moral guidelines inherently possess genuine hearts."?
    YiRu Li

    I think its possible this train is why Confucius hasn't hit the Aurelius or even Sun Tzu level of modern popularity.

    This is a bit circular and doesn't inform anyone of how to get to an 'ought'.
  • Is the philosophy of mind dead?
    I understand that you are convinced consciousness is not even considerable other than as a property emergent from brain activity. Is that correct, Dr?
  • A first cause is logically necessary
    There is no limitation as to what a first cause could bePhilosophim

    It is limited to things uncaused, surely.
  • US Election 2024 (All general discussion)
    Very much agree, though I'm not a partner.

    Even Harvey Specter left Specter Litt Wheeler Williams when he got with his secretary :lol:
  • A Case for Moral Realism
    If a person were raped, you couldn't tell them a bad thing happened to them?Hanover

    I mean, I could, sure, and it would comport with a popular understanding. But, in a philosophical discussion I'm unsure how to note that rape is bad. It seems deontologically impermissible? But I'm not a deontologist. I don't think 'bad' has a definition. I don't think its possible, without already defining Bad per your choice of ethical system, for anything to be in that category - so, it's an apprehension not a rejection to be clear.

    I have serious problems with all of those concepts. They are useful, and heuristically I use them (it would be pretty dishonest to claim otherwise) but they are approximations for every-day use. When it comes down to it, I simply don't know what constitutes those things in real-life, as it were.
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?

    I'm not entirely sure I understand the part about the conversation devolving from philosophical to ordinary, but hey... I don't understand a lot of things.

    I sincerely appreciate you pulling back from the rather personal nature of hte last few comments. We've had some good interactions here and I wouldn't want a silly blow up like this to ruin that.
  • A Case for Moral Realism
    If you equate morality to comfort levelHanover

    I don't.

    why can't you say those things you're comfortable with are good or bad?Hanover

    Because comfort is not a measure of good or bad unless achieving comfort is the aim. And, is it? Not for morality.

    think rape is a bad thingHanover

    I think it's very, very uncomfortable for me to consider.

    you'll have to define "bad" so that I know why your discomfort is not evidence of it.Hanover

    No, I wouldn't. You'd need to define Bad in a way that includes someone's discomfort with an event being evidence of same. I simply don't see that as coherent.
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    I felt that your point of telling me wrong was based solely on your blind trust of the other people (authority, or someone you respect etc) or source of the info (the internet), rather than the arguments or the truth itself, and for some reason having strong emotional urge to put my points down for no particular reason. Not fair was it?Corvus

    I understand this. And i understand it to be an emotive defense of a patently incorrect assertion, based on an irrational response to a perceived slight, which did not transpire at all how you interpreted it.

    Which is why I am not amenable to taking it too seriously.
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    I think i'm understanding the commentary, but i'm unsure how it's between Corvus' claim and the negation of his claim. It seems to support it... But, thank you - clarification is always appreciate.d
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    I'm unsure what to say but: No it doesn't. this is the code with a couple of spaces:

    [XXXquote= "Corvus;873461"]But the point is that, Kant used Thing-in-itself to posit the existence of God, Soul, Freedom and Immortality.[XX /quote]
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    I'm unsure what the issue is? It's a quote from Corvus within my post. For some reason his Requote has you as the author. Not sure what that's about..
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    As noted, in light of this complete meltdown, I don't care.
    The majority of my posts are seeking correction, and accepting correction. So the patent falseness of your ad hominem is just not a good way to comport yourself.

    but not because such things don't existfdrake

    Yes. I specifically said that for Kant, his position means God is possible in the noumenal realm but that he does not posit his existence - whcih seems to be exactly what you're getting at here.

    Corvus' claim was that Kant posits God's existence.
    ut the point is that, Kant used Thing-in-itself to posit the existence of GodCorvus

    As shown here.
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    It is patently clear you are being irrationally defensive - and in this sense, I actually don't care what your proclamations are.

    Your claim has been shown to be wrong, and since then you've only prevaricated. Take care mate
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    It sounds like you're having a bit of a moment.
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?


    1. Yet you just claimed this was not what you're talking about? Dude... ;
    2. Mww's quoted passage, and my response from DeepAI show that your claim is exactly not true;
    3. No idea why you're being so intensely defensive and personal.

    You're wrong in your claim. That's not a bad thing. You can now update. What the heck is going on here...
  • The Great Controversy
    What was the ideology that made that invasion okay?Athena

    Imperialism.

    How about they enter war because of a lack of principles and moral thinking?Athena
    Due to a commanding ideology replacing those faculties... They are thinking morally, but not your moral system. Its teleogical divine command theory.

    I'm really unsure where this response has anything at all to do with what i'm trying to get across.
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    And this (current) thread is exactly about how your claim there is wrong. No idea where you've gotten to with it... But Mww is saying (and provided fairly clear reference for it) that Kant does not use ding-an-sich to posit the existence of God. Merely the possibility.
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    No one claimed anything about Kant's view on GodCorvus

    Bro, WHAT?

    But the point is that, Kant used Thing-in-itself to posit the existence of God, Soul, Freedom and Immortality.Corvus
  • Israel killing civilians in Gaza and the West Bank
    It was a direct reply to me - so, with some jest, forgive me for taking it as aimed at me LOL.

    And, per my response, Netanyahu DOES represent the Jewish people. Those descended from the tribes of Israel, generally, support Netanyahu and if we're going to get even MORE specific, religious Jews are almost entirely in support - Only secular Jews present a minority support

    Please note: "The survey was conducted during a previous wave of protests against judicial reform..." so can be read as probably slightly less accurate, in a way that supports the contention.
  • The Great Controversy
    The Creator and Nature's God is not the God of Abraham. The enlightenment is about empirical thinking, not being a subject to authority that must be obeyed.Athena

    Yes.....quite right. Unsure what the implication for our exchange is here. My points essentially rest on this.

    What are those principles and why is Jefferson in such a huff?Athena

    self-determination, in large part.

    Islam's separation from Western thought? How does that work?Athena

    By it being entirely separated from Western Thought from about 1100AD. By religious warfare, ironically.
    We stole from Arab scholars, for sure, but that doesn't mean our thought are intertwined systems. We nicked sources and ran away with them. Islam stayed put, and is still there today, for the most part. Developing algebra isn't relevant to what we're discussing here.

    To this day Evangelicals fear that unfamiliar information could be Satan and should not be trusted, so do not wear a mask or get a vaccine but turn against the government based on empirical information because it is the handmaiden of the Devil trying to steal our souls. :brow:Athena

    Whcih harms only them. They do not have an ideological commitment to harming others.
  • What is a strong argument against the concievability of philosophical zombies?
    :ok: It's a dumb TE with the behavioural parameter. Without it, it's very fun.
  • Possible solution to the personal identity problem
    I highly recommend Reasons and Persons (his 1984 tour de force).

    From DeepAI (which i've just, in the last 12 hours, started using):

    ""Reasons and Persons" is a seminal work by philosopher Derek Parfit, exploring ethical theories and the concept of personal identity. Parfit examines how different ethical theories, such as consequentialism and deontology, provide reasons for action and their implications for personal identity. He explores the relevance of these theories to moral choices and the nature of self-interest. Parfit argues for a reductionist view of personal identity, suggesting that psychological continuity and connectedness are more significant than a fixed identity over time. Overall, the book delves into the complex relationship between ethical theories, personal identity, and rational decision-making."

    The non-identity problem stems from his work:

    "The non-identity problem questions whether there can be harm done to a person by causing their existence to be different, when their alternative existence might include certain advantages. It raises ethical and philosophical questions about how we understand harm and the nature of personal identity."
  • A Case for Moral Realism
    How do you know that something is good or bad?Hanover

    I'm not quite understanding the question as response to - my question - But i don't think I can know. I can just know whether something is comfortable or not. I can't rightly think that would entail it being good or bad.
  • Israel killing civilians in Gaza and the West Bank
    Fully agreed. Im unsure how that changes that Netanyahu is the official, globally recognized representative of the State of Israel(which is what's being posited is at fault - not hte religion Judaism).
  • Anyone care to read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason"?
    I think you are profoundly mistaken and barking up a profoundly unhelpful tree.

    "In Kant's philosophy, the term "ding-an-sich" refers to the thing-in-itself or the noumenon - an entity that exists independently of human perception and understanding. Kant argues that the human mind can only know and comprehend phenomena, or the way things appear to us through our senses, but we can never truly apprehend the noumenal realm.

    When it comes to God, Kant did not make explicit references to this concept in relation to the divine. Instead, he primarily addressed the limitations of human reason and our ability to know and understand God through theoretical knowledge. Kant maintained that the existence of God could not be proven or disproven by reason alone.

    (irrelevant paragraph removed)

    While Kant did not directly link the concept of ding-an-sich to God, one could argue that in the noumenal realm, where things exist independently of human perception, a transcendent being like God could potentially reside. However, it is important to note that this interpretation goes beyond Kant's direct writings and is subject to individual interpretation."

    source is DeepAI
  • Israel killing civilians in Gaza and the West Bank


    We're talking about one particular state, which is geopolitically homogenous.AmadeusD

    Really hard to think you're not choosing to ignore some really critical points in your replies.
  • A Case for Moral Realism
    Most just go back to relying upon whatever instinct there was that caused the person to put events in A or B in the first place.Hanover

    I think this is what @Bob Ross is inadvertently relying on for his categories.

    If, for example, I arrive at a theory for why events are moral and then I apply that theory to a specific event X and the theory says X is moral, but I don't agree with it, then I refuse to call it moral and I go back and tinker with my theory so that Xs no longer are computed as moral.Hanover

    Do you think this is roughly the standard for Philosophical discussions of morality?

    I tend to bite the bullet and sit with the discomfort or reject the system and start again. Currently, that's happening a lot LOL
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    Trump is a convicted felon and wins the electionGRWelsh

    This will send the hard-leftists into a tail-spin. Felonies are racist.
  • Currently Reading
    Re-reading Great Expectations and about to crack open Ryle's Dilemmas (thx @Banno)
  • The Mind-Created World
    That explains a lot.
  • Israel killing civilians in Gaza and the West Bank
    It would be more helpful to answer the question. It is directly relevant to an assertion you made that seems unreasonable to the rest of us.

    The examples you gave aren't relevant. They are religions with various sects. We're talking about one particular state, which is geopolitically homogenous.
  • Possible solution to the personal identity problem
    I think Jason has actually spoken about that - how certain experiences change your mental states to such a degree there might be a change in identity. But, I think you're slightly misapprehending - its not changes, its a discontinuity - i.e, disestablishment->reestablishment that provides the 'death' on his account.
    I don't buy it either, ftr.

    Parfit has a reductionist account which concludes there is no persistent self, but what matters to morality is psychological continuity only. Hence, Jason's rather bleak and stringent account of death
  • The Great Controversy
    fair enough, and I am extremely appreciative of the humility there, even if it isn't warranted :P

    Right now we have run away ChristianityAthena

    This should be very, very fun....

    I look forward to a thoughtful response!
  • US Election 2024 (All general discussion)
    It's just so disappointing to have these unforced errorsHanover

    This is why it isn't reasonable to get such an arched back over these things. Everything is f'd. LOL

    I don't want to vote for Biden, but I'll crawl over broken glass to vote against Trump, and I'm not going to throw my vote away on a hopeless third party candidate.RogueAI

    I respect that position. I would waste my vote though, if I chose to.
  • Not reading Hegel.
    I’m on board. Dude is fantastic to listen to.
    No comments yet but I know this will be extremely rich listening
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    I shall not be taking you seriously going forward. :)
  • Israel killing civilians in Gaza and the West Bank
    I very much consider Hamas as the actual government of GazaBitconnectCarlos

    Ah, see.. that's fair enough. I do not. That seems like a massaging of reality to support an emotional state, to me. But i'm sure my rejection of that appears a weak 'no true scotsman' appeal in the sense that "they're not a 'proper'" government being my at-base reasoning.

    a governmenBitconnectCarlos

    Unrecognized by any relevant body? Interesting. Goes to the above, i suppose, but given that only the PNA, and unequivocal rejection of Hamas, seems to be taken on by any relevant body or authority i find it an odd thing to rest on.

    Yes Israel will target houses and hospitals because Hamas will militarize houses and hospitals, but Israel will provide aid to innocent Palestinians.BitconnectCarlos

    This seems counter to them not doing this. But that's a digression - the sources of information are questionable at best given the interests on each side. I'm not committed to anything here. What I would say, is that I can do this:

    https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_war_crimes (the relevant section, obviously)

    https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/11/9/israels-war-crimes-in-gaza-are-by-design-not-default

    https://www.voanews.com/a/human-rights-watch-accuses-israel-of-war-crimes-criticizes-selective-outrage-of-allies/7436111.html

    https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/atrocities-present-past-and-future-escalating-crimes-and-consequences-in-israel-and-occupied-palestine/

    https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza

    https://amnesty.org.nz/evidence-war-crimes-gaza

    https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/enough-evidence-of-war-crimes-in-gaza-says-israeli-american-holocaust-professor/3061948

    I'm not expecting you to even click any of these links. My point is not that anything in them is conclusive, or even reliable. My point is that I could do the same in reverse (as i'm sure you would do). Fact is, there is no obvious response to what's going on. It is equivocal in a general sense.

    Also, I'm sorry, but again, looking at the two death tolls

    "As of December 30, 2023 Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor estimated Gaza Strip deaths as 30,034 total and civilian deaths at 27,681 which would mean about 2,353 militant deaths."

    i just cannot make sense of your position at-base, so I have to go on to this more abstract discussion to come to interesting points, which i think are here. I cannot understand how it is possible to look at a 2:1 or worse ratio of civilian to combatant deaths and think that's anything less that a severe war crime.

    but targeting houses which contain weapons and hamas operatives is not a war crime.BitconnectCarlos

    Targeting civilians is a war crime. Being wrong is not.