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The Unreasonable Ineffectiveness of Mathematics in most sciences

In 1960, the physicist Eugene Wigner wrote the article "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences" explaining how unexpected it is that mathematical formalism can make predictions about reality. Although his article was…
Davius
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Is a human language a prison for a mind?

I am dealing with a question whether is a human language a prison for a mind and also whether is there something above a human language. my progress: I have read articles on wikipedia about metalinguistics and linguistic determinism. There are eight…
Jan
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Did the Ancient Greek Philosophers actually believe in their Gods and Myths?

Is there any historical proof that shows what attitude the Ancient Greeks, specially the philosophers, had towards their Gods?
user22051
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Are there any non-divine objective standards of good/evil?

This question is a step backwards because I've run into trouble with definitions on my original question: What would be the logical consequences of human will/nature being corrupt? Is there any way to define terms such as "evil" or "good" that do…
Caleb
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How is gun violence comparable to drunk driving?

I just read "Is 'guns don't kill people people kill people' a good argument?" and it reminds me of another argument. I would like your opinion on whether or not it is a good argument. Gun Control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it…
Malachi
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Does the existence of psychopaths pose a problem for moral realists who argue we have a moral intuition?

Psychopathy is not universally agreed upon in psychology, but among some there is a consensus that psychopathy is highly heritable, and that psychopaths are lacking in conscience and empathy. Psychopathy is sometimes understood as a predisposition…
Ruben
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Does any philosophy designate thoughts (independent of expression or action) as a subject of morality?

Most moral philosophers consider only physical actions, speech and thoughts that may have an impact on others as within the scope of morality, while many religion believers who suppose the omniscience of deity (deities) think that there are ‘immoral…
James Young
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What is the difference between "reductio ad absurdum" and "proof by contradiction"?

What is the exact difference between reductio ad absurdum and proof by contradiction? Wikipedia used to state that: Reductio ad absurdum (Latin: "reduction to the absurd") is a form of argument in which a proposition is disproven by following its…
loudandclear
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What are some criticisms of Epicurus' "death is nothing to us"?

Epicurus famously asserted that death should not be feared, with roughly the following argument: When we die, we no longer exist; Since we no longer exist, we can feel neither pain nor pleasure. Rather, we simple "are not"; Therefore, there is…
commando
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What fallacy dismisses problems by presenting "bigger" problems?

Wasn't really sure how to phrase this, but I'm thinking of an instance in which someone diminishes a problem by presenting one of larger scope - as a rather shoddy example, "x political problem in America doesn't matter because half the world's…
user2871915
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Do some continental philosophers deliberately obfuscate their writing? Why?

In /r/philosophy a Redditor claims that certain continental philosophers deliberately write in a muddled (obscure, complicated) style; because they believe that to truly understand some ideas, a reader of philosophy should struggle with the text,…
Mirzhan Irkegulov
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Can we prove reality?

I heard someone make an assertion that 'We cannot really prove that there is reality.'. 'Reality' here would mean the universe and everything in it. You could look at an apple and think its an apple but it could really be something else, and we…
martinverdejo
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Isn't every theory or model wrong?

I'm currently in class 12 and I was about different models of atoms in my school chemistry book and there were like 3 or 4 atomic models Rutherford's model, Thompson's model , Bohr's model then finally Quantum Mechanical model. After reading every…
Shardul
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Can something come out of nothing or not? Why?

In our current state of affairs it is safe and reasonable to assume something exists - be it a universe, pure conciousness, illusion or other designations. If some readers nevertheless claim something does not exist right now, then this question…
Saul
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Is Yoda committing a fallacy?

I've been debating with a hard core Star Wars friend who loves repeating Yoda's "Do or do not, there is no try" knowledge. I tried to explain that the DO (B) and DO NOT (C), are end results, you have to attempt to reach them by TRYING (A). You can't…
Beach Bum
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