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1500 questions
42
votes
11 answers
What is the difference between free-will and randomness and or non-determinism?
In relation to the question "What are the necessary conditions for an action to be regarded as a free choice?", it came up that one way to insure the possibility of free-will was to have more than one choice. But that doesn't separate free-will from…
Mitch
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41
votes
25 answers
Why is it okay to eat meat but not to be cruel to animals?
Why is eating meat allowed in a social setting ( Most people think it's not bad ) but not animal cruelty in a social setting ( Most people think it's bad )?
Like:
Imagine what would happen if someone abused an animal in a crowd.
Imagine if someone…
Seal
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41
votes
14 answers
Is faith necessary for man to survive / why is existentialism valued if it is unsubstantiated?
I'd like to point out that I have basically no knowledgeable background in philosophy, but this question has been troubling me as of late, and I need an informed take on this.
I was watching a video by Dr. Jordan Peterson, a professor of psychology…
sangstar
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41
votes
17 answers
Should I respect other people's religions?
My point of view is that there is no reason to believe any god exists without evidence.
So I find religions a very irrational idea and I mostly heard people saying
We have to respect other people's religion
But I have barely heard:
We don't…
Danowsky
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40
votes
11 answers
What are the ethics of having children today?
Please receive this question as having come from a young person who wants to have children, but given the state of affairs (climate change, growing costs of living and wealth inequality, "technology", the human condition, etc.) is considering to not…
TCP
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40
votes
13 answers
Is circular reasoning always a fallacy?
Consider the following dialogue:
A: "I accept only one notion of land property. Namely, 'I am doing what I please here, therefore I have ownership here.’”
B: "But this means you can break into any place and stay there, using this rule."
A: "There…
rus9384
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39
votes
11 answers
What should philosophers know about math and natural sciences?
My question is whether a lack of knowledge about formal mathematics or theoretical science in general would have an impact on a philosopher's ability to think and make judgments.
Why should a philosopher acquire a deeper understanding of natural…
zzzbbx
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38
votes
13 answers
What should a rational person accept as a miracle?
I was reading through this collection of short essays from theologians, scientists and thinkers each responding to the question "Does the Universe have a purpose?" which was suggested to me in a response to my question here on the purpose of the…
Saeed Neamati
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38
votes
9 answers
Does happiness motivate every action?
Pascal wrote:
All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views.…
Jon Ericson
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38
votes
11 answers
What fallacy is the belief that we are special because our existence on Earth seems improbable an example of?
People often use the argument that there must be a God, for example, because Earth and the laws of physics are perfectly situated for humans to exist the way we do.
However, if Earth, or even the universe as a whole, were not situated so that life…
Tori
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38
votes
3 answers
How did first-order logic come to be the dominant formal logic?
Early formal systems like Frege's Begriffsschrift or Peano's work on the axiomatization of the natural numbers used axiom systems with an underlying second-order predicate logic (from today's point of view). Why were these second-order logic systems…
Thomas Klimpel
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37
votes
18 answers
Why do atheist euthanasia proponents consider nothingness preferable to suffering?
I have heard some atheists support euthanasia, on the grounds that death is preferable to agony. But I don't understand this; if there is no afterlife, death isn't a relief. It's true nothingness, the deceased won't experience painlessness, they…
Ryan_L
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36
votes
10 answers
Is it a fallacy if someone claims they need an explanation for every word of your argument to the point where they don't understand common terms?
Is it a fallacy if someone claims they need an explanation for every word of your argument to the point where they don't understand common terms?
For example, suppose someone said, "If a dog bites people, then it's a vicious dog." Then someone…
dogperson
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36
votes
7 answers
Why has the philosophy of Bishop Berkeley fallen out of favor in academic philosophy?
I studied George Berkeley as an undergraduate, and though I absolutely loved his work and his philosophy, many of my peers, and even some of my professors, found his philosophy wholly unappealing, even worth mocking. My school offered full classes…
dimo414
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36
votes
5 answers
Was Socrates a fictional character invented by Plato?
I have read a lot of websites that suggest Socrates was a fictional character created by Plato (albeit without the citation of any corroborating evidence), but I have also read the opposite (and by "opposite" here I don't mean that Plato was created…
Garmen1778
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