Most Popular
1500 questions
14
votes
4 answers
Does Aristotle ever explicitly refer to man as a "rational animal"?
Did Aristotle every explicitly refer to man as a "rational animal" (ζῷον λόγον ἔχον)?
The internet is riddled with uncited claims to this effect: that "rational animal" was an explicitly stated definition of man that Scholastic philosophy later…
brianpck
- 242
- 1
- 2
- 9
14
votes
1 answer
How do quantifiers work in predicate logic?
Predicate logic is somewhat like propositional logic, except that where propositional logic only works on the level of whole sentences (e.g. A = "Socrates is mortal", B = "All Scottish people eat their porridge plain"), it allows you to talk about…
Niel de Beaudrap
- 10,058
- 4
- 32
- 52
14
votes
4 answers
Name for reverse Ad Hominem, (i.e. praising the defense)?
Is there a standard name for a fallacy of the same form as an ad hominem, except that instead of denouncing the opposition, it praises the defense?
Typically an ad hominem ("against the man") fallacy of (ir)relevance is described as requiring…
agc
- 366
- 1
- 14
14
votes
4 answers
What epistemological systems effectively handle the infinite regress?
I have been following apologetics for quite some time and have run into many claims that certain epistemological methods typically associated with non-theism (for example, empiricism and logical positivism) do not handle things like the infinite…
Hendy
- 391
- 2
- 5
14
votes
9 answers
Is a proof still valid if only the author understands it?
Some time ago I was reading about the recent Shinichi Mochizuki's proof for the famous ABC conjecture. It's enormous and so incredibly difficult that at that time virtually nobody was able to comprehend it (now it seems to get better), and some…
machaerus
- 321
- 1
- 8
14
votes
3 answers
Could Anselm's argument also "prove" that a perfectly evil god must exist?
As far as I know, Anselm's argument for the existence of god goes like this:
Let's imagine the most perfect being possible. If we imagine it being most perfect but not existing, it would be even more perfect if it existed, which causes a…
elias_d
- 1,545
- 11
- 13
14
votes
8 answers
Can one prove a negative existential claim?
A major concern in epistemology is just what we can know about existential claims, that is, claims about the existence (or lack of) something.
Suppose for example that I assert the following:
The cake is a lie. No physical cake exists.
This is a…
commando
- 7,369
- 6
- 38
- 69
14
votes
11 answers
If everything is theory laden, how can one argue against climate change deniers?
Per Quine's results from "Two Dogmas of Empiricism", the Duhem-Quine thesis, and later results such as those of Kuhn and Feyerabend, all empirical observations are theory laden. Even widely accepted facts such as the Earth is round or the Earth…
Alexander S King
- 27,390
- 5
- 70
- 188
14
votes
3 answers
What are the present views on genetic selection and modification of humans?
A medical ethicist recently proposed that selecting (and possibly engineering) certain traits into our children is not just morally permissible but desirable:
Professor Julian Savulescu said that creating so-called designer babies could be…
Rex Kerr
- 15,970
- 1
- 23
- 46
14
votes
5 answers
Are philosophy and science mergeable today?
In the past, both Philosophy and Science were one. However, because of the vastness of Science, it was cut off. I am inclined to go along the same line of thinking, but, is there a way to merge both disciplines once again?
initial moon
- 149
- 4
14
votes
5 answers
Does a Background in Mathematics Make One a Better Philosopher?
I was a Philosophy major as an undergrad and became obsessed with the beauty of rigorous argumentation. There I didn't take a single class listed under the Mathematics department and was almost exclusively interested in Ethics.
Now, two years…
George Singer
- 141
- 1
- 3
14
votes
10 answers
How does Quantum Mechanics affect the modern account of free will and determinism?
In the edition of Feb/Mar 2016 of the Philosophy Now Magazine says:
Under Feel Free to Differ it says:
[...] Determinism itself comes in different flavours. Hard determinism
of the most absolute sort is the theory that the entire history of the
…
Edwin Dalorzo
- 385
- 3
- 11
14
votes
1 answer
What counters are there to Spinoza's argument that acts of free will create infinite regress?
My 16-to-21-year-old self was very preoccupied with free will. When I was 21 years old I rejected the notion as ill-defined as both my reason and my inner experience told me that my will was caused and had to be caused. I thought that people who…
ymar
- 544
- 4
- 10
14
votes
3 answers
Is it ever possible to objectively state that a piece of music or film, or a genre, is better, or more artistically valid than another?
I first found Adorno and Horkheimer's critique of pop culture in the Culture Industry very compelling. Their idea that pop culture was factory produced and induced mindless consumerism as opposed to legitimate and challenging art seemed very…
Alexander S King
- 27,390
- 5
- 70
- 188
14
votes
8 answers
When and why do we say that two things are the same?
In a preceeding question I have asked about the foundations of rational reasonning. It seems the concept of identity plays a key role. However "identity" is not observed in the real world: our mind creates identities.
For example if you see a…
robin girard
- 735
- 7
- 11