The Philosophy Discussion Forum

No amount of individual experience will allow you to know the nature of the source of that experience - for instance, whether it is "naturally real" or whether it is virtual - what kind of turtles the universe rests on, how many of them there are, and whether they are naturally evolved tur...

a god who would send people to hell permanently is a joke

that out of the way, it might be a worthwhile experience for everyone to spend a little time in hell now and then

Hi all

This question about what "exists" comes down to the solipsistic question.

Is there "stuff" or is it all "information" being fed to the perceiver?

I did a search for "Evolutionary Psychology" - a topic I find of interest. I was brought to this index page: https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/evolutionary-psychology A few entries down I find this What is Choosing and How Did it Start? By Jeremy E Sherman Ph.D. How can we have free w...

No question that science is fluid. This leads to the next question: how do we tell the difference between science and nonscience or science and pseudoscience? Does science have limits? Are the methods of science fluid? Science is not a body of truths, but a method for evaluating models of the world...

Remember the often neglected truth: The scientific method can tell you a lot but it can't tell you anything about the 2 most important beliefs and individual has: * The world is real and not just in your mind * In that real world, seemingly governed by physical laws, other people have subjective ex...

As a nondualist I actually fail to see a difference between the two, it's an odd categorization. If anything, it's slightly backwards, since these secondary qualities are direct experiences in the head, and the primary qualities are conceptual direct experiences in the head. Remember the often negl...

It is possible since all that is required are a mind which is the function of a brain and a physical body to have experiences No, first person consciousness is apparently more than the function of a brain because all brain functions can be explained just fine from a third person perspective. Brain ...

"Suppose that there be a machine,the structure of which produces thinking,feeling and perceiving; imagine this machine enlarged but preserving the same proportions, so that you could enter it as if it were a mill. This being supposed, you might visit its inside; but what would you observe ther...

At some point in scientific endeavor and study of the brain comes: the problem of other minds.

Theories must be tested. It takes elbow grease. Otherwise you're just writing poetry.

The Cartesian demon doesn't apply here as a proof of Solipsism remotely, it is if anything proof of duality, by isolating the individual through illusion, as separate and not the same thing. A true Solipsists would never accept this, if they did, they would instantly cease being Non-Dual. They of c...

Fail. You merely asserted a Dualism between the Demon and I exist, and that a Illusion is sourced in you, and not myself. So you proved my point, with drama and efficiency. Thank you. I asserted there is something outside of "your conscious mind" or "your conscious self" that is...

What frame is alpha centauri in, if it is not in some frame with the traveler? Frames are adopted to make calculations; they are not found to exist using some empirical method. "What frame is alpha centauri in, if it is not in some frame with the traveler?" Pick your frame based on your n...

Perhaps Satan is real and the only action he took was to create religions and the arguments over them.