philosophy

Axioms by Robert G. Brown of Duke University Physics Department: Why Science is ********:

I am a huge fan of Keith Burgess-Jackson and frequently read his blog. Here's the lede for a editorial he wrote that was carried by OpinionJournal: The full article at OpinionJournal.com.

Hey all, I'm a bit of a philosopher myself, and I've read quite a bit out there from the famous names. However, I'm looking for something special, and I think maybe some forum members can help me. I'm looking for writings by philosophers that are about knowledge, science, and the field of...

This will be fun. We can use scientific understanding to answer some philosophical questions. Obviously things like "What is the meaning of life?" would be a bit subjective and more on the side of philosophy. But we can answer "What came first? The chicken or the egg?" Reptiles laid eggs...

RenaissanceBiker said: I assume that this is referring to natural philosophy and not ethics (unless ethics itself is just analysis of language). But beyond being useful for studying the cultures in which they developed, what is the similar value of: - Ancient Greek Philosophy - Native...

Very early in my debate career, one of the Lincoln-Douglas debate topics was thus: "When in conflict, the letter of the law ought to take priority over the spirit of the law". Unfortunately, I only got to do this topic at one tournament. A real shame, since it's one of the best LD topics I...

Here's a cool (if somewhat superficial) article from space.com: The Beginning of the Universe? With answers further away than ever, I'd like to say to both theists and atheists alike: Boo-yah! Agnosticism RULES!!! YEeeaaaahhh! SUXXORS! PWNED! :D ... aherm... seriously. I'd like to...

I usually don't lose my way into the dark ages - but since I'm christian, too, I wonder why many Christians have no problems with violence and oppression if this happens in the name of the Bible. Here are some examples for what I mean by that: - Free choice - Free sex for adults - Gay marriage...

how is freedom measured? how do we justify freedom? what is freedom? are we free? do we have the so called free will? are animals other then humans which are free? in the wild truly free? As a human does having any kind of belief system automatically make you not free? has anyone here ever...

In my nearly 25 years of life, rarely have I had the displeasure of looking death in the face. Unfortunately, that is the situation with which I currently must contend. My maternal grandfather, who has been sick with cancer for about a year, has been given a terminal prognosis. Although we are...

Time has always been the grounds for strong relationships, from love to marraige. The magnificent duo of past and future too often overshadow the magnificent trio of past, future and present. Is it cutting hairs to say present is so slight it does not exist or could present be so inclusive that...

We have the following 2 premises; 1) at age X, it is permissible to do Y. 2) in an arbitrarily short period of time, an individual is sufficiently similar to his/her previous self for any changes to his/her self to be negligible however from these two premises, induction leads to a...

The thread on survival after death made me remember that I had made a blog posting on the subject of reincarnation some time ago. I thought it might produce some discussion here. It's in the form of an internal dialogue (i.e I was mentally talking to myself, which happens quite a lot when I'm...

Every so often someone comes on the forum to make the claim that philosophy is nothing more than navel gazing. I can only respond that if this is your take on philosophy then you really don't even know what philosophy is. Let's start of with the question, "why is philosophy important?"...

With respect to today’s subject, I am in the minority even among atheists. Few non-believers—no matter how strongly they reject traditional Christian morality—are willing to call moral issues strictly matters of opinion. However, I remain a steadfast moral relativist despite the rarity of my...

Plato informs me that philosophy means a Jazz solo. I am no musician but I think I comprehend a little about jazz because I understand Plato’s message. To do philosophy is to create meaning. To learn philosophy is to study the great minds of history as they create meaning while in an attitude...

Let us say that Star Trek style transporter tech is invented and people start beaming around here and there. The impression of this technology is that people or items are converted to energy which is sent to the destination and reformed into matter. What was discovered after the technology was...

I once asked a philosophy professor “What is philosophy about?” He said philosophy is “radically critical self-consciousness”. This was 35 years ago. Only in the last five years have I begun to understand that statement I took a number of courses in philosophy three decades ago but it was not...

(The last thread I made trying to bring up a good discussion I think turned out miserably. Most people here jump into arguments with different definitions for the same words others use, almost to the point of them being homographs, and we end up in pointless roundabout arguments. So I ask for...

To make other threads easier to comprehend, I thought I'd explain my philosophy in reverse (conclusion first)... The conclusion is that only ONE entity exists. Actually, this isn't the ultimate conclusion, as I have made attempts to explain why this entity is 'God' (and I have also explained...

Last week Darat, for fun (!), posted several sets of JREF rules. Somebody I mentioned this to described this as "a very localised version of trainspotting". Anyway, today I sat an exam and was confronted twice by rules I broke, which did not matter, but which the invigilators think did...

I was searching for the origin of the quote "everywhere I go, there I am" (I saw it on a Dr Seuss t-shirt today and wondered what book of his it was from). This guy, Roy E. Klienwachter: http://www.klienwachter.com is claiming to be the author of the quote, which I am highly skeptical of as...

Some like to take the argument that a Man Cannot Walk the Same River Twice and claim that nothing is ever the same as time flows. I myself writing this is a different person to one writing this. I want to say that I think all the arguments for this are FALLACIES. The confusion comes form the...

;) Any fans/students of the field have any general thoughts they'd like to get into? Any philosophers you particularly do/don't like (the Greeks, Kant, whatever)? Cmon - it'd be a refreshing change of pace to discuss some philosophy here w/o getting too wrapped up in the whole "religious...

I don't know if this has been brought up before. (if it has then please ignore) On the Matrix: The Ultimate Collection DVD set, there is a DVD (Disc #8 I believe) That covers both the philosophical refreneces in the movies as well as artificial intellegence. (it even has Chalmers briefly...

Last night I caught the tail end of a dramatization of the life of King Henry the 8th on Phoenix's PBS affiliate. As he struggled for breath on his deathbed, surrounded by his courtiers, one of Henry's advisors grasped his hand and asked anxiously, "Do you die in the faith of Christ?" The...

What is the relationship between science and philosophy? Do you think science has philosophical presuppositions?

FYI, interested readers: in the January 2006 issue of the journal FIRST THINGS, senior Vatican figure Christoph Cardinal Schönborn of Austria responds to critics of his July piece in the New York Times dealing with Neo-Darwinism, which was discussed in this thread. Here's the link: "The...

Does anyone know of any respectable philosophy periodical equivalent to the likes of Nature, Scientific American, etc? Thanks for Your Help.

What in your opinion are the 5 most significant, valuable and impacting concepts in philosophy 1. to philosophers and 2. to the general lay public -- in order of importance? For example, people use Plato's allegory of the cave to describe perception of the world or the illusion of knowing...