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1500 questions
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14 answers

Are we sinners because we sin or do we sin because we are sinners?

This question arose after I read a sentence like this : We are not sinners because we sin We sin because we are sinners. So "because it's carnivore then it eats meat" --vs-- "because it eats meat then it's carnivore"? To me it seems both are…
karma
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Is "Mickey Mouse" a rigid designator?

According to Kripke, proper names, like Barack Obama, Michael Jackson etc are rigid designators. In all possible worlds, the name refers to the 'object' Barack Obama or Michael Jackson. This is true for all real persons. But what about fictive…
Applied mathematician
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How does Berkeley justify existence of other minds?

I don't understand how Berkeley justifies existence of other minds in his system. Is it something that he takes for granted? Because, his position seems very close to that of a solipsist except for acknowledgement of other minds. You'll perceive…
Non-Being
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How to prove (A v B), (A → C), (B → D) therefore (C v D)

Obviously since A → C and B → D then if A v B one of C or D must be true. My only idea is v must be introduced, but how would I use subproofs to show one of A /\ C or B /\ D is never false if A v B?
sumsum2
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Why are there two fundamental laws of logic?

We have the law of non-contradiction and the law of excluded middle, but looking at it, it seems that both of them are the same thing, or at least one of them logically implies the other. Is there a reason why we chose to say that there are two…
puffofsmoke
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What are the dialetheist semantics for logical negation?

This question is in a sense a follow-up, or elaboration, of the question "What are the motivations for Dialetheism?". Reflecting on the way I phrased that question, and the way I remarked on answers, it has occurred to me that my central confusion…
Niel de Beaudrap
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Are there moral objections to a life motivated purely by money? How to sway a person from this lifestyle?

Let’s say there’s a person, Z. Z has decided that his goal in life is to get as much money as possible, and at the end, to upload his consciousness into a robot/computer to live forever in his fortunes. Hence, he eschews all romantic relationships…
user39404
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What are the key differences between pragmatism and conventionalism?

What are the key differences between (classical) pragmatism and conventionalism? I'm reasonably familiar with the first, and have just become aware of the second via a reference to Henri Poincaré's La Science et l'Hypothèse. From my current…
Drux
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What is the difference between depth and surface information?

I was looking for an answer to this question: Was Euclid's method of proof axiomatic? While doing so I ran across an abstract of Jaakko Hintikka for an article "What is the axiomatic method?" where the distinction between depth and surface…
Frank Hubeny
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Is altruism a contradiction?

A discussion at work recently involved our CEO (who has a psychology degree and is generally very knowledgable.. I have a lot of respect for his opinion) stating with great confidence that altruism is impossible, the argument being that an act of…
user2808054
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Why are legal and moral responsibilities said to be different?

It seems in most cases which laws are adopted depends on what ethical views legislators hold. There might be counterexamples when a lawmaker does not adopt laws reflecting own moral views. But I do not think it is common at all, otherwise we can…
rus9384
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Can we logically prove that anything exists?

Suppose I want to prove that negative numbers exist. Well, I could easily do that using a mathematical proof. However, all I would be doing is adding another logical object to a list of known logical objects, none of which appear outside in the real…
user34467
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Do premises need to be valid conclusions?

I recently purchased "A Concise Introduction to Logic" by Patrick Hurley. I have a concern: if premises must be valid conclusions, can we ground truth on anything? Using an example from the book: All film stars are celebrities. Halle Berry is a film…
Jonathon Anderson
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What makes moral realism so popular a standpoint?

According to wikipedia page on moral realism: A survey from 2009 involving 3,226 respondents found that 56% of philosophers accept or lean towards moral realism (28%: anti-realism; 16%: other). According to it the second most popular standpoint…
rus9384
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What is intrinsic in Capitalism which leads to accumulation of wealth with a minority?

I know this is a broad question some would recommend me reading Marx or other critics of capitalism to find the answer. But my question is, in almost all western world, there are left wing entities in government which try to 'amend' the system, but…
Ather Cheema
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