Comments

  • What is "Legitimacy"?
    Not all things genuine, real, or authentic are also legal.

    Sounds false to me.
  • What is "Legitimacy"?
    More broadly, means 'fixed in law' or 'recognised within a legal framework'. It can therefore be both a moral topic, and a political tool. To claim that something is illegitimate is to denigrate it, conversely, something 'legitimate' is authentic, genuine, or real.Wayfarer

    Do you agree with the above, as it is written?
  • Introduction to Avicenna's "proof of the truthful": proving the necessary existent's existence


    Because it's good to have a good time. Enjoi your beer, and don't forget to tip your bartender and wear your mask...

    :mask:
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    So your beliefs are composed of actual mice, trees, cups, cupboards and tables, rather than visuals and feelings OF mice, trees, cups, cupboards and tables? Lazy thinking on your part.Harry Hindu

    Of course. My beliefs about my cat include the cat. A visual of a cat may not.

    Lazy thinking?

    Pfft.

    :zip:
  • A New Political Spectrum.
    Harnessing limitless clean energy from magma is a good idea.counterpunch

    I wonder. What are the environmental consequences of doing so? Does the process disturb the natural subterranean environment? Are there any changes in the pressure of the lava chambers/tubes closer to the surface in the surrounding areas?

    Don't piss Pele off!

    :razz:
  • Introduction to Avicenna's "proof of the truthful": proving the necessary existent's existence
    You ask 'how is he great?' He fully approves of himself, that's how.Bartricks

    :rofl:

    He tell you that?
  • logic doubters?
    What about the rules of logical entailment; do those count as the laws of logic?
  • logic doubters?
    What are you talking about when you say "laws of logic"?
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    I can talk about the content of...
    — creativesoul

    ... a correlation?

    Or is it already the content? Of a belief? Or is it the belief?
    bongo fury

    The content of any and all belief is only understood and/or known by considering the correlation(s) being drawn by the creature in question. The content of any and all belief is naturally limited to and facilitated by biological machinery; that is to say that the content of any creature's belief is naturally limited to what is made possible by virtue of their biological capabilities. This next bit of paving ought go uncontested.

    The content of each and every(all) belief includes exactly and only the things being correlated one to another by the very creature drawing the correlations; by the very creature associating between the different things; by the very creature that is making connections between the different directly perceptible things(at first, anyway); by the very creature that is attributing/recognizing causality; by the very creature attributing meaning; by the very creature having conscious experience.

    Thus...

    A creature devoid of the ocular structures we currently deem necessary and/or responsible for our color vision capabilities will not draw correlations between visible light, the visually perceptible effects/affects of reflected light(color emission), and anything else. A creature devoid of those ocular structure can directly perceive red cups. However, it cannot possibly perceive the color aspect at all, due to the not having the necessary biological machinery to do so. The color of, and/or reflected by the cup, is simply incapable of ever being or becoming part of the experience of such a creature. No such creature can form belief about red or experience red in any way, shape, or form unless it is a creature capable of directly perceiving any single one of a number of different particular ranges of frequencies within the visible light spectrum that we've long since named "red", and drawing a correlation between red and something else.

    A creature devoid of olfaction definition will not draw correlations between the smell of an apple pie and anything else. A creature cannot actually form belief about or experience the smell of an apple pie, unless it is a creature capable of smelling apple pies. A creature that cannot smell an apple pie cannot possibly know what it means when someone says that they smell an apple pie, even if they know what counts as "an apple pie".

    A creature devoid of language will not draw correlations between language use and anything else, unless it is a creature amidst language creation and/or acquisition. The very ability to create and/or use language requires a creature capable of drawing correlations between language use and other things. Propositions are existentially dependent upon language.



    The process of drawing correlations between different things offers us as simple an outline as possible, as it very well must. It's amenable to naturally occurring evolutionary progression. It's capable of growing in it's complexity. Human belief began simply and accrued in it's complexity. An acceptable criterion/description of belief must be capable of taking proper account of all belief, ranging from the simplest through the most complex. Convention seems to be at a remarkable loss for adequate explanation/description of language-less belief, and many analytics and post-moderns outright deny that such a thing even exists. They are wrong.

    Many pragmatists, analytics, and post-moderns hold that both meaning and truth are somehow, in some way, existentially dependent upon language. That is quite simply not true. Neither is. We can know that as a result of knowing that language-less creatures are capable of forming, having, and/or holding belief about what's happened, what's happening, and what has yet to have happened but is expected to(what will happen soon).

    There is no such thing as meaningful true belief devoid of meaning and truth.

    If we hold that meaning and truth are dependent upon language use, then either meaningful true belief can somehow exist without meaning or truth(in the case of the meaningful true belief of a language-less creature), or meaningful true belief cannot be formed by a creature devoid of language; language-less creatures have no belief. Coherency demands that those who hold that meaning and truth are dependent upon language reject the very possibility that meaningful true belief can exist in it's entirety prior to language.

    Any and all positions based upon the ideas that all belief presupposes truth and all truth depends upon language arrive at a crossroads of sorts - a choice to be made - when considering whether or not language-less creatures are capable of presupposing truth(having belief). Coherence alone demands rejecting the claim that language-less creatures are capable of forming, having, and/or holding belief, for all belief presupposes it's own truth somewhere along the line, and those who hold this view believe that truth depends upon language.

    At what cost do we continue to maintain this basis of falsehood? At the cost of successfully acquiring a basic understanding of human thought and belief.

    Language-less creatures most certainly form, have, and/or hold belief. If our accounting practices, if our linguistic devices, if our linguistic framework, if our conceptual schema, if our worldview, if our belief system, if our definitions, if our philosophical beliefs and/or positions cannot make sense of language-less belief while avoiding self-contradiction, then that does not constitute adequate ground for believing that language-less creatures do not have belief. To quite the contrary, it serves as more than adequate ground to realize and/or conclude that we've gone horribly wrong somewhere along the line.

    If language-less creatures are capable of forming, having, and/or holding belief, if all belief is meaningful to the creature forming, having, and/or holding it, if all belief presupposes it's own truth somewhere along the line, and some language-less belief is true, then it must be the case that both meaning and the presupposition of truth somehow exist in their entirety prior to language use.

    I've been setting out exactly how that happens; how truth and meaning both emerge from within the process of belief formation(drawing correlations between different things).

    Does that answer your question?

    :wink:
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    Yep, those too are part of it.
    — creativesoul
    What else would there be?
    Harry Hindu

    Mice, trees, cups, cupboards, and tables...
  • A New Political Spectrum.
    What does science say about what we ought do?

    :brow:
  • How can I absorb Philosophy better?
    I say start by completely dehydrating yourself.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    Visuals, sounds, smells, feelings, etc.Harry Hindu

    Yep, those too are part of it(some of the content of some language-less belief).

    Thinking in words is no different than thinking in visuals and sounds.Harry Hindu

    That is not true. All words are visuals and/or sounds. Not all visuals and sounds are words.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    I can talk about the content of my cupboards. I can talk about the content of my cat's stomach. I can talk about the content of the ocean. I can talk about the content of...
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    I can talk about the content of the government. My account comes in propositional form. It does not follow from that that the content of the government is propositional in form.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    I can talk about the content of a proposition. My account comes in propositional form. It does not follow from that that the content of a proposition is propositional in form.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    I can talk about the content of a lemon. My account comes in propositional form. It does not follow from that that the content of the lemon is propositional in form.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".


    I've some sympathy for the idea that the limit of one's language is the limit of 'one's world', if by that we mean worldview or belief system. However, Banno proudly conflates word and world, by not drawing and maintaining the actual distinction between belief statements that are about language use and belief statements that are about mice and trees. Part of that comes as a result of overstating the strength of the case that the belief that approach makes. Another part comes from the idea that truth is unanalyzable. Another from his preference for a redundancy approach. Another from a conflation between truth as coherence and truth as correspondence.

    Truth - as correspondence - is presupposed in all belief statements. That's how/why "is true" becomes a redundant use of language. However, "is true" is not equivalent to truth. "Is true" marks belief(assuming sincerity), and belief while it is necessary, is also insufficient for truth. <-----Banno would object to the necessary part, but the objection is based upon a misunderstanding. Belief is necessary for correspondence between belief and fact(what's happened) because when and where there has never been meaningful belief, there could never have been a meaningful correspondence between belief and what's happened. It's insufficient because some belief is false.

    Human thought, human belief, meaning, and truth are all things that exist in their entirety prior to our talking about them. Those sorts of things are peculiar in that it requires language to become aware of them and their role in our lives, and we can most certainly get them wrong.

    Since all belief is meaningful, being meaningful requires meaning, and language-less creatures can form, have, and/or hold belief, it only follows that meaning is prior to language.

    The question then is what does such meaningful belief consist of? Hence, this debate.

    Not propositions.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".


    Gotcha! My better half just informed me that Turkish coffee is quite strong, and too strong for her, which is saying something. You must prefer very strong coffee. Kona is more smooth, so. You're right then. No match for what you like!

    :wink:
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".


    Go dark roast then! French press is not finesse! Makes the boldest flavour.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    The general form of a correlation: P(x,y)Banno

    I'm not going to allow you to continue conflating our account of another's belief with the others belief.creativesoul
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".


    Try 100% Kona. Freshly ground and prepared with a French press.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".


    Besides that, don't worry about me... I'm just fine! My position has served me very well in real life... I do put it into everyday practice. Yup... obsessive, but well worth it!

    :wink:
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".


    Obsessive?

    :gasp:

    Has any philosopher ever been anything but?

    :smile:
  • What is the purpose/point of life?
    All meaning is attributed.Banno

    Ah!

    An important point. I would concur!
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".


    We draw correlations between different things for all sorts of reasons, as a means for doing all sorts of things.

    Talking about how we use our beliefs, or how we use language(doing things with words) neglects how we form belief. How we form belief is germane to all belief, not just how we use our beliefs, or what we do with language. I'm not even sure if it makes sense to say that language-less creatures use their beliefs, so...

    I'm having trouble understanding how talk of language use is relevant to the content of language-less belief, aside from supporting the claim that all belief is correlational in content, but never admitting that much.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    Did I assent to "All belief is meaningful"? Must have been a moment of weakness.Banno

    You did. Should the time ever come when I finally convince you to incorporate correlations into your position regarding meaning(and truth), I will have done my job.

    :wink:
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    Left unexplained is how drawing a correlation is not propositional.Banno

    The latter requires language, the former does not always. That explanation has been expounded upon throughout the entire debate.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    Try this:, talk of meaning here is revving the engine without engaging the clutch.Banno

    Interesting that you'd draw correlations between talking of meaning and revving the engine without engaging the clutch, and in doing so change the focal point from how things become meaningful to doing it by virtue of drawing correlations between different things...
  • What is the purpose/point of life?


    And then expect payment for borrowing the shovel.
  • What is the purpose/point of life?
    Better self-worth comes from working to achieve worthwhile goals.Bitter Crank

    :up:
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    Are you denying that all belief is meaningful to the creature forming, having, and/or holding the belief?
    — creativesoul

    Do you have issues making sense of the above?
    creativesoul

    What does it do? Paraphrase it in terms of use.Banno

    It directs our attention to what we ought be paying attention to when taking account of another's belief; the content thereof.

    What is meaningful and how does it become so?

    I'm left a bit confused regarding how you've no problem assenting to "all belief is meaningful" but balked at "all belief is meaningful to the creature having the belief".

    :brow:
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".


    Not sure if you remember Banno's recent Davidson thread on malapropism A Nice Derangement Of Epitaphs, which was a critique of what counts as successful communication and/or learning/having a language. In that paper Davidson was repeatedly claiming that something more was needed aside from just learning, knowing, and/or following conventional rules, and that the conventional understanding did not offer an acceptable description of that, as the success of malapropisms show.

    Attributing meaning and misattributing meaning is what we do when interpreting another's language use, and we do that solely by virtue of drawing correlations between the use and other things. When we draw correlations between the same things, we correctly interpret. What I've been arguing here is germane to that paper as well as Moore's paradox, Gettier, and so many other historically challenging philosophical 'problems'.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    drawing correlations between things
    — creativesoul

    Ok, so drawing of correlations between things is formation of dispositions to respond to them which are relative to each other? Maybe?
    — bongo fury

    Or is it only another way of saying having beliefs?

    Which are irreducible mental stuff?
    bongo fury

    It's the basis, the common denominator, the basic process by which all minds emerge; by which all experience can be had; by which all thought, belief, and statements thereof are formed; by which all meaning emerges(via attribution); by which all successful communication happens.

    The process is irreducible, but neither mental or physical(it's both after-all). It provides a basic outline which is rightfully applicable to any and all discourse. We can 'watch' people offer different correlations when needed to clarify what was originally meant by some use or another. Happens all the time, here in this thread even, within the side conversations going on.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    and yes...

    Trump is a walking, talking, living, eating, and breathing performative contradiction.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    The speech act theorists paved some new paths, and some very good ones. They drew new correlations between some particular already meaningful marks. Austin's bit on promises left quite an impression on me. However, it's not the correlations they drew and captured our attention by doing so that is interesting and relevant here, in this discussion. It's the fact that they drew new correlations between already meaningful marks. They added to the meaning of some already familiar language use by virtue of using different terms to describe the same set of meaningful marks. Or perhaps, articulated some previously undisclosed meaningful aspects of familiar use...

    No?

    :brow:

    Looking at use is all interesting and sheds some much needed light of all sorts of stuff regarding how we attribute meaning to language use.

    However, what does that have to do with how a language-less creature forms, has, and/or holds belief? What does that have to do with how a belief can even be and/or become meaningful to a language-less creature capable of having one?

    Well, it shows us that drawing correlations between things is something that both complex linguistic belief and simple language-less belief have in common with one another. It supports the very part of the claim that you seem to balk at.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    Belief is far more fluid than that; in a state of constant flux.Banno

    Of course it is. We begin drawing meaningful correlations between different things long before we start talking about it. That happens autonomously.
  • Debate Discussion: "The content of belief is propositional".
    It puts your position to rest. Talking about the ways we use language aside from naming and descriptive practice is utterly irrelevant.