Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
13
votes
2 answers

What is the philosophical status of category theory?

In the philosophy of mathematics, some attempts have been made to give it ultimately secure foundations; a notable example is the Hilbert Program. Goedel's Theorems show that it is not quite possible, but there are some partial results. Most such…
Jakub Konieczny
  • 529
  • 4
  • 13
13
votes
6 answers

Gödel's theorem and God

I have seen it argued that Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems have implications regarding the existence of God. Arguments for the existence of God run mostly along the lines: "Because of Gödel's Theorem, truth transcends human understanding, and…
Jakub Konieczny
  • 529
  • 4
  • 13
13
votes
6 answers

Using the Duck-Typing method in scientific context

Some programming languages use Duck Typing to determine types of Objects, based on their methods and properties and not their declared type. Simplified, it goes down to the premise "If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then it must be…
Jankapunkt
  • 249
  • 2
  • 6
13
votes
5 answers

When is pointing out a person's hypocrisy not considered to be a logical fallacy?

People keep using the word "whataboutism" and it seems people don't really know what it means, and I don't see how it's a logical fallacy if it's a very good argument. For instance, if the U.S. says that China should be punished for its human right…
Sayaman
  • 3,929
  • 11
  • 29
13
votes
3 answers

Are systems of logic that don't follow or extend garden-variety FOL possible?

As I know all humans share a unique logic and even less-educated people uses same common sense in their statements. For example, it is rational for anybody that if P is correct then P or Q is correct too. Inspired by this question about God and…
Isaac
  • 231
  • 3
  • 8
13
votes
3 answers

What is the telos of a proposition?

Whitehead contends in Process and Reality that propositions are “hybrid entities” which act as “lures for feeling.” The famous co-author of Principia Mathematica scolds the traditional conventions of logic and epistemology for failing to appreciate…
Paradox Lost
  • 1,903
  • 11
  • 20
13
votes
4 answers

What is the difference between dogma and an axiom?

My understanding of axioms is that they are self evident truths that require no proof, which in my mind is similar to a dogmatic belief in the sense that dogma is a set of beliefs or doctrines that are established as undoubtedly in truth.
jazzdawg
  • 233
  • 2
  • 6
13
votes
5 answers

Is 'veganism' a settled issue in Philosophy and Ethics?

I have been having discussions with some rather enthusiastic vegans who have a degree in philosophy, and they have been trying to convince me that it is a settled issue in ethics and philosophy that the debate is finished, that 'the experts' all…
Rip Sirandleo
  • 139
  • 1
  • 3
13
votes
13 answers

How do materialists respond to the thought experiment of the perception of blue and red colors being swapped?

By materialism, I mean the belief that the totality of all in existence is material. That is, particles/waves/energy in the space-time fabric. If one were to construct a thought experiment that demonstrated there exist things that are independent of…
abnry
  • 396
  • 1
  • 3
  • 12
13
votes
7 answers

Is there a philosophical basis for the conflation of the cultural left and the economic/fiscal left?

In the U.S and most of the West, the cultural left (used loosely to include movements like feminism, secularism, being pro-diversity and pro minority-rights, the LGBTQ movement, being pro-immigration, etc....) and the economic left (socialism,…
Alexander S King
  • 27,390
  • 5
  • 70
  • 188
13
votes
4 answers

Can we fit non-euclidean geometry into Kant's theory?

If one assumes that the geometry of pure intuition is something other than Euclidean, how does that damage anything in the Critique? I mean can we still have a grasp of space-time both as an intuition and as an objective thing, to continue his way…
Farhad Rouhbakhsh
  • 320
  • 1
  • 9
13
votes
2 answers

Does the Simulation Argument differ in essence from the Evil Genius puzzle?

I recently read an article that suggested we might be able to determine if we are part of a computer simulation run by our descendants. The idea seemed far-fetched, but after looking around, I see that it has been argued for by at least one…
Jon Ericson
  • 7,249
  • 4
  • 36
  • 67
13
votes
8 answers

Why did we define vacuous statements as true rather than false?

I have been trying to understand why implications about the empty set are treated as "true". It seems to me intuitively that vacuous statements should be false. For example consider the sentence: Every element of the empty set is equivalent to a…
Charlie Parker
  • 337
  • 3
  • 10
13
votes
5 answers

Is the scientific method, itself, falsifiable?

Fundamental to science is the concept of hypotheses being falsifiable. A falsifiable hypothesis, naturally, is one which could be proven wrong by empirical experimentation or observation. Karl Popper advocated for "critical rationalism," and built…
Cort Ammon
  • 17,775
  • 23
  • 59
13
votes
5 answers

Is it possible to imagine a color one has never seen before?

We can easily imagine any color we have seen at some point in life (e.g., white, black, rainbow colors). But what would it take one to understand and "see" a new color? P.S.: There are more colors than we see, aren't there?
Abyr Valg
  • 187
  • 1
  • 1
  • 7
1 2 3
…
99 100