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1500 questions
34
votes
9 answers
To what extent do we choose our beliefs?
Are we free to choose our beliefs? Or is our belief in a proposition something that is thrust upon us by the weight of the evidence we have in favor and against the truth of it?
For example, is it possible to choose to believe something one finds…
JDH
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34
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6 answers
Three statements that contradict each other
In formal logic, it seems that a contradiction only arises between two statements. Is it possible to have a set of three statements that together are a contradiction, but where any two of the statements do not contradict each other?
Marc Bacvanski
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34
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17 answers
Why doesn't philosophy have higher standards for its arguments?
Mathematical systems are an excellent model for organizing and conducting thought:
In the mathematics community, any argument in support of a conjecture, that deviates from "sound argument" never flies except by mistake.
Why don't we do the same…
QWERTY_dw
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34
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13 answers
Why are believers criticized so much for being anti-science when so many scientists are ... believers?
My first introduction to philosophical debate was through Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. The idea that they hammered into a younger me was that faith was stupid and irrational and any person with faith was themselves stupid and irrational and…
user32029
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34
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12 answers
Why is the complex number an integral part of physical reality?
In modern physics, the quantum wave distribution function necessarily uses complex numbers to represent itself. If physics defines the physical reality, then what we are saying by the statement above is that the reality is made up of immeasurable…
Dheeraj Verma
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34
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17 answers
What are some good introductions to philosophy?
I've been searching the questions posed here, and don't seem to find one that gives the answers I am looking for. I've proposed to start a list on meta but no one proposed anything, so I feel I must ask this question: What are some books generally…
JNat
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34
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22 answers
In what sense is atheism scientific?
I have been reading a bit of Dawkins and the like and they all seem to hold a very strong viewpoint on atheism and its associated ideology. I have not found a direct citation for this but he frequently makes a very close connection, e.g.:
An…
user2683
34
votes
3 answers
How did first-order logic come to be the dominant formal logic?
Early formal systems like Frege's Begriffsschrift or the Peano's work on the axiomatization of the natural numbers used axiom system with an underlying second-order predicate logic (from today's point of view). Why were these second-order logic…
Thomas Klimpel
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34
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8 answers
What would Kant do when two categorical imperatives conflict? Could he ever justify lying?
Suppose a German SS officer knocked on my door, asking me whether I had any Jews. And suppose further that I had two Jews in a secret compartment in the attic that he'd never be able to find. Everybody will agree that I must lie and say I haven't…
Cerberus
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34
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12 answers
How can one differentiate nonexistent entities?
How is it possible for things that do not exist to not be the same? How can one differentiate nonexistent entities? How can I know the difference between ghosts and werewolves if neither exist?
Niklas Rosencrantz
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33
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18 answers
What is the purpose of the universe?
There are two extremes known as creationism vs evolutionism. Let's consider creationism for a moment, and imagine that God exists, and he/she has created us. The question that obsesses my mind after that is simply, why? What was the purpose of God…
Saeed Neamati
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33
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14 answers
If I said I had $100 when asked, but I actually had $200, would I be lying by omission?
If you had $200 cash on you right now, and I asked you if you had $100 on you, would the correct answer be yes (always/no matter what other conditions there are), no (always/no matter what other conditions there are), or it depends on the…
Yukang Jiang
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33
votes
15 answers
Why do some people care so much about "empirical truth"?
Whenever you discuss philosophy, inevitably you will come across a type of person who holds empirical truth above all else, and will blatantly ridicule any discussion which has its onset in a paradigm that emphasizes other aspects than just…
geowo
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33
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5 answers
What is the difference (if any) between "not true" and "false"?
A fairly simple question I hope someone can help me with.
Heynow
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32
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3 answers
How is Gödel's incompleteness theorem interpreted in intuitionistic logic?
Classically, one sets up an axiomatic system with a formal deduction system & an interpretation in a model. Generally it is sound, that is: a formally deduced theorem is also true when interpreted in the model. The reverse is called completeness, if…
Mozibur Ullah
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