I wander about this - it's been a while since I've read Putnam so I might try to read an SEP article on it later. Why would realism entail that I always have access to / be able to refer to / mind independent reality?However, given the causal constraint on reference, you could never refer to the real brain in a vat that you are (and always have been), and so realism entails a necessary falsehood, refuting itself. — Michael
-I don't see what's to be gained from cordoning off what is a transcedental addition versus what is really in nature 'in itself,' and there seems to be no interest in the project if you're not a Kantian (the question of 'is identity in the mind/language/computer, or in the thing itself?' is only of interest to someone with Kantian assumptions) — The Great Whatever
I didn't notice anybody saying that Jews don't exist — andrewk
I wonder if perhaps this means that murder being immoral isn't something you understand but something you feel. — Michael
You just believe that because... Roger WhiteAny more suggestions? — jamalrob
I share your views about thinking of morality and moral behaviour and psychology in abstract and rational terms. We typically and primarily relate to morality emotionally. I think that most people mean the same, or at least similar things, when that say that such-and-such is wrong, but then philosophers come along and overcomplicate things. What most people express is disapproval. This is the case whether they mean to state an objective truth or just their subjective judgement. I believe that fundamental underlying meaningful elements behind the use of common moral language can be known if one takes a reductionist approach, and I further believe that the most useful and meaningful results can be found if one examines subjectivity rather than depart on a wild goose chase by seeking moral objectivity - which, if it does exist, is basically redundant - even if it could be proven. — Sapientia
I really love this. Its seems so much more human to me then if you went to a philosophy class and got convinced of utilitarianism.Well, fiction is an odd business, to invent it you have to enter in some way into the imagination of the character you're writing about. I had set up the daughter of the (woman) protagonist to be an annoyingly-right child, so I got her (at age nine) to disrupt the household by suddenly asserting the rights of animals - throwing out clothes, refusing food, insisting on separate eating utensils from her disgusting carnivorous brother. And I just emerged from writing the situation, thinking, beyond fiction - this girl is right! — mcdoodle
I guess my thinking here is that, though we set out our arguments in the form of persuasion, it might be helpful for people to understand that, in philosophy, few are persuaded. So, at least insofar that we believe philosophy is actually worthwhile, we must be doing something else aside from persuading (though, on the rare chance, we are sometimes persuaded too -- it's just not the norm, at least not within a particular conversation). — Moliere