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What does "is true" mean in the phrase "a philosophical position is true"?
I have run into an online discussion about philosophies and world views (theism, atheism, humanism, nihilism, and all the other "isms") where phrases like "*ism is true" and "*ism is false" are used. What do they mean?
For example, let's say…
Eva
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Is democracy scalable?
In a small tribe, where pretty much everyone knows everyone else (and their ancestors) one could elect one person to rule over all; he is in a simple sense, first amongst equals, for all the members of the tribe.
Plato discusses Democracy in a…
Mozibur Ullah
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Does being a moral atheist require being a vegetarian?
A semi-serious question:
(a) Excluding the rare cases of atheists who are also dualists, most atheists are materialists who don't believe in souls.
(b) Many such atheists are also moral/ethical people, in fact they are usually adamant that atheism…
Alexander S King
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What is "the Nietzschean criterion" in Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus"?
Quote:
It seems there are but two philosophical solutions [regarding killing oneself], either yes or no. This would be too easy. But allowance must be made for those who, without concluding, continue questioning. Here I am only slightly indulging…
djechlin
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A Question Regarding Russell's Paradox
Consider the 'set' behind Russell's Paradox:
R = { x | x is a set and x ∉ x }
in light of Cantor's definition of set ("aggregate"/Menge) in his CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FOUNDING OF THE THEORY OF TRANSFINITE NUMBERS (Dover edition),
By an…
Thomas Benjamin
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Why does Aquinas argue that rationality of the universe points to a creator?
In the Summa, Aquinas, working from an Aristotelian philosophical position, argues that the rationality of the universe points to a creator. If I am correct in interpreting his work, he says that the rationality of the intellect (per tabula rasa) is…
Robert LeChef
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Logic and Computation: a philosophical viewpoint on Curry-Howard isomorphism
The link between logic and computation is stronger than ever, especially since the establishment of the Curry-Howard isomorphism specifying that proofs can be seen as programs and formulas as program's types.
I wondered if we could find any texts…
Boris
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Quine on higher set theory
In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic, Stewart Shapiro states in his introductory section:
Quine himself accepts mathematics (as true) only to the extent that it is applied in the sciences. In particular, he does not accept…
Not_Here
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What are reasonable basic obligations of citizens in democratic societies?
Theorists (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel) have often discussed the state's obligations to its citizens, but nowadays it seems we need a definitive-but-succinctly articulated account of citizens' obligations to sustaining healthy, functioning…
Mavaddat Javid
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What fallacy argues that we should do nothing because we can not do everything?
A says to B "we should recycle because it is better for the environment," and person B says "if we wanted to be better environmentally, there's lots of things we could do that we don't, so we shouldn't recycle."
Is this a specific fallacy?
ervid
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Does a philosopher need much knowledge of mathematical/formal logic?
I am not a philosopher but I would like to ask this question. I know that there are philosophers like Hobbes, Locke or Foucault, who excel in the areas of ethics, political philosophy and aesthetics. However they rather use informal logic than…
Zid
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Are You Blameworthy for "reasoning incorrectly"
Moral judgements are a certain species of normative judgement that people make about the actions of others. However, there are instances where I am tempted to say that you can be judged as "wrong" in non-moral contexts.
I'm specifically interested…
Stella Biderman
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The relationship of women's right to abortion and men's duty of child support
There is a quote from Karen DeCrow, which you can find below.
The courts have properly determined that a man should neither be able
to force a woman to have an abortion nor to prevent her from having
one, should she so choose. Justice therefore…
mike
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Has religion adapted to modern cosmology and if so how?
I wonder how existing major religions follow modern cosmology. Is God a god of the planet Earth, or of the whole solar system, or of the entire universe? If he is the god of the whole universe, is he also the god of other hypothetical alien species?…
John Am
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Do I need to read The Organon to understand Aristotle's philosophy?
I recently read through the collected works of Plato and really enjoyed learning about his philosophy and ideas. I'd like to do the same for Aristotle and have started reading through his works as well. So far I've gotten through the first two parts…
Mr. Gravy
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