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1500 questions
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If there is a God, how is that relevant to us?
If you consider the God of the bible to be real (talking about Christianity), then the existence of God is relevant to you because he can do miracles, change your life for the best, and allow you to experience eternal happiness in heaven. The same…
Cristian
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Is everyone considered a "philosopher"?
Is every person who has ever questioned what they did or what they are going to do a philosopher? Does this idea fall under philosophy in any way, or is it merely a semantic debate?
Dynamic
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What philosophers have built on Ayn Rand's Objectivism?
Ayn Rand's Objectivism philosophy has always intrigued me. And it seems to still have a lot of influence over certain politicians and thought leaders. Have any philosophers taken up the mantle where Objectivism left off and built on top of what…
RationalGeek
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What is the difference between intensional and extensional logic?
Homotopy type theory talks is conjectured to be the internal language of (infinity,1)-toposes; it comes in two flavours: extensional and intensional - these aren't notions that I've come across before in logic.
How are these terms defined and what…
Mozibur Ullah
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What is the difference between philosophy and religion?
How do you make the distinction between philosophy and religion? Are there some philosophies/religions that are hard to categorize as being one or the other?
language theorist
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Is the golden rule considered childish in philosophy?
The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a moral maxim or
principle which may appear as either a positive or negative
injunction:
One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself
(positive or directive form). One should not…
user2683
15
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14 answers
Why should I believe my own conclusions?
Consider the metaphysical question of whether God exists (just as an example). There are, and have been throughout history, billions of atheists, billions of Christians, and billions of people with many other beliefs. Consider the top million most…
Sherz
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How much philosophy should a physicist know?
I began to read Hawking's recent book 'A Grand Design' some time ago and noticed that he savages philosophy. He says '...philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics'. This annoyed me so…
Mozibur Ullah
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Where did Machiavelli say that "the ends justify the means"?
I have read The Prince, Discourses on Livy and The Art of War. In none of these books did I find the quote oft-attributed to Machiavelli that “the ends justify the means”. Did he say it? If so, where? Or is it a misquote? If he didn’t say it, where…
musingsofacigarettesmokingman
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Is it ethically correct to be proud of one's country?
It is a very well known phenomena that people feel pride for the country where they were born and/or live, even though the effect seems to be declining slightly nowadays. Frequently, governments also try to instill a sense of national pride in their…
eflorico
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What happens when a conscious, intelligent being interprets a deterministic model?
Sorry, I’m new here, and I’ve truly no experience with philosophy. However, I’ve had this problem that I’ve been thinking about for awhile concerning a deterministic model for the universe.
Consider a hypothetical, experimental world where the…
user8013
15
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3 answers
What is the meaning of "meaning of life" and why do people seek it?
One of the oldest questions is "What is the meaning of life?". But what does the concept of "meaning of life" actually mean? What does it mean for something to be the "meaning of life"?
And why is it so important for many people to have it?
The…
Danijel
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What are prominent attacks of Rawls' "veil of ignorance" argument? Which liberal philosophers have advanced it?
In John Rawls' A Theory of Justice, he argues that morally, society should be constructed politically as if we were all behind a veil of ignorance; that is, the rules and precepts of society should be constructed as if we had no a priori knowledge…
Uticensis
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What can be skipped in Aristotle?
I plan on reading through some Aristotle, and I was wondering if there are any books by him that people consider a waste of time to read. I would like to read through everything eventually, but I know the Greek philosophers in particular can have…
Sketchyfish
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Is the surprising applicability of mathematics to the physical world a brute fact, or something crying out for a theistic explanation?
William Lane Craig proposed the following argument for God's existence:
For those who are unfamiliar with the argument for God from the applicability of mathematics to the physical world, here is a simple formulation I have used:
If God does not…
Mark
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