Most Popular

1500 questions
14
votes
9 answers

Is naturalism falsifiable?

From Wikipedia: In philosophy, naturalism is the idea or belief that only natural laws and forces (as opposed to supernatural ones) operate in the universe.[1] Naturalism is not so much a special system as a point of view or tendency common to a…
user48437
14
votes
10 answers

What are some philosophical arguments for accepting absurdity?

In absurdist philosophy, the Absurd arises out of the fundamental disharmony between the individual's search for meaning and the meaninglessness of the universe. As beings looking for meaning in a meaningless world, what are some philosophical…
John
  • 143
  • 1
  • 5
14
votes
11 answers

Are protests in a democracy ethical?

Usually in common media, protests are seen in a good light and for causes we may agree with. However, if one really thinks about it, in reality what is happening is a small group of people showing some sort of negative feedback to the whole…
tryst with freedom
  • 2,178
  • 10
  • 23
14
votes
10 answers

Does Santa Claus exist?

Consider the following reasons why the answer could be "yes": Plato-ish: The Santa Clauses in the children's minds, as well as the Santa Clauses you meet in the malls are the projections of the Santa Claus Form. We witness a wide variety of what…
Michael
  • 2,075
  • 15
  • 21
14
votes
6 answers

Is the idea that "Everything is energy" even coherent?

There are many New Age websites claiming Everything is energy. Does this even make sense in philosophy of physics and metaphysics? How can something be "made out of energy"? As far as I understood it energy is not a substance. At the same time this…
ArAj
  • 803
  • 3
  • 7
14
votes
6 answers

Is it possible for everything that exists to have a definition?

Is it possible for everything that exists to have a definition? I actually started out asking this in the linguistics - semantics stack and was directed here. By definition I mean at least in the dictionary sense, possibly including…
James Shelton
  • 143
  • 1
  • 5
14
votes
11 answers

Is the burden of proof a fallacy?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_proof_(philosophy) When two parties are in a discussion and one makes a claim that the other disputes, the one who makes the claim typically has a burden of proof to justify or substantiate that claim…
Sayaman
  • 3,929
  • 11
  • 29
14
votes
5 answers

Term for people who believe God once existed but then disappeared?

Reading Wikipedia, I learnt Agnosticism is the view that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. Comment: Am I correct if I say an agnostics would say: "I don't know whether God exists or…
Severus Snape
  • 251
  • 1
  • 3
  • 9
14
votes
6 answers

Are all fallacies created equal?

That is, are some fallacies considered worse than others, or does each fallacy have the same weight? For example, are formal fallacies considered "worse" than informal fallacies or vice versa? For another example, is it more damaging to an argument…
14
votes
12 answers

Why is it that the statement "All goblins are yellow" does not contradict the statement "All goblins are pink?"

From what I know, I think it has something to do with vacuous truths, but my understanding is not quite there yet.
loopzoop
  • 304
  • 1
  • 2
  • 7
14
votes
3 answers

How do I go from ◊∃x□[∃y(y=x) ∧ Mx] to ∃x□[∃y(y=x) ∧ Mx]?

I've been thinking about the ontological argument recently. I'm trying to go from ◊∃x□[∃y(y=x) ∧ Mx] to ∃x□[∃y(y=x) ∧ Mx] I choose that formulation because that seems to express x having the property of necessary existence and essential…
14
votes
3 answers

Who is responsible for damages of automatic drones?

I had a discussion about drones for civilian use, e.g. self-driving cars without a human at its wheels, transport devices that would fly products you otherwise would buy in the supermarket directly to your home, and robots that collect trash from…
k0pernikus
  • 1,434
  • 11
  • 21
14
votes
3 answers

How does Kant assert existence of the noumena, if indeed he does?

According to Kant the thing-in-itself or noumena is strictly hidden from us and phenomena are conditioned by the categories of the mind such as time, space, causality amongst others. These categories allow for the possibility of…
Mozibur Ullah
  • 47,073
  • 14
  • 93
  • 243
14
votes
7 answers

Is there a name for the fallacy whereby the other party to the debate only suggests, does not articulate, what their point is?

Often, in a dispute, people only suggest their point without ever articulating it. An awful lot of people actually do that. This makes any rational debate impossible (if you second guess, they can deny having said that). Is there a name for this…
Speakpigeon
  • 7,364
  • 1
  • 11
  • 26
14
votes
7 answers

Is reductio ad absurdum a fallacy?

If Miles told Frank: “Copying a DVD is stealing” And Frank's response to Miles: “if copying a DVD is stealing, then, by that logic, taking a photo of someone is kidnapping” And Miles Response is: “They are not comparable” Is Miles right. Or is…
Jesse Kapahua
  • 275
  • 2
  • 5