The Philosophy Discussion Forum

So now it seems that Operation Epic Failure has been fleetingly replaced by Project Freedom, itself now on hold.

Sincere question: has Trump worked out yet what his war aims were? Or is he holding back on announcing them so he can make them match whatever the ceasefire agreement turns out to be?

Took me a while to work out even what your question means. Embarrassingly, I had to turn to AI to help me. I hope the mods will excuse me, just this once, for posting AI output but what it told me was: The notation Γ⊢P signifies that formula P is provable from the set of assumptions Γ in a formal pr...

Before Charles III visited, workmen in Washington put up a few Australian flags "by mistake". https://www.thedailybeast.com/dc-flubs-royal-welcome-by-flying-wrong-flag-for-king-charles/ But in fact it wasn't the "wrong flag", because the King of Australia was also visiting. So wa...

Yes, Feynman said "Tuva or Bust!"

But in fact he found it a hard choice, as he was very keen on both of them.

Well, that certainly fits with the way the word is actually used, yes. Not sure about that last one. Unless it was being said by some maniac running a government biological weapons lab.

Walker wrote: ↑Sun Apr 19, 2026 5:34 am People with scientific secrets could be at large, in unknown places.
(In Atlas Shrugged the missed folks were living small, then turned into at large.)

Yeah. Richard Feynman isn't in fact dead - he's flipping really great burgers at some roadside diner in Utah, price $1.

Have you ever been asked “what’s good”? Next time I get asked this I want a legitimate answer. So, “what’s good” One possible approach is to say that a good thing is a thing that fulfils its purpose. A good chair is a chair that is comfortable to sit on. A good painting is one that is beautiful or ...

Impenitent wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2026 1:25 pm where's Mark Knopfler when you need him?

-Imp

Co-founded Dire Straits and he produced their album "Brothers in Arms". The man is clearly a prophet.

At some point the Senate has to investigate the causes and conduct of this war. Probably after the midterms when some of the collaborators have been swept from office. It's going to be much larger than the Benghazi commission. I wonder how well Kegsbreath will do in those hearings. I see you are ma...

Judgement means, either/or. Without the burden of choice, animals follow the path of inevitability when hunting, which for them is the most efficient use of energy according to the creature’s capacities. So the wolves hunting in the wolf pack, for instance, will thanks to evolution inevitably follo...

I hope you won't mind though if I post links to a few of the more prominent CANZUK-related pages, for anyone interested in finding out more about that political movement? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANZUK This Wikipedia entry gives an overview, including critical views. https://www.canzukinternat...

True, but raises some interesting questions. For example, has it evolved in creatures other than humans? How about carnivores that engage in hunting in packs, using strategies? Where exactly they position themselves in the long grass, and when they decide to spring their trap and make their move on ...

I think people are unreliable in reporting their own beliefs. Also there's a difference between waxing meta-ethical and how one is in life. In the trenches of a battle with a heavy metal playing neighbor, the too touchy elementary school teacher their daughter has, their psycho boss and so on, I do...

None of which would matter in itself, but people are getting twitchy about how many of the social media sites are owned by a handful of multi-billionaires, often with political agendas, or at least with commercial interests strongly affected by politics, and deliver content selected by algorithms t...

In Britain, the word Fabianism has a whiff of the early 20th century about it. It's not exactly, so far as we can currently tell, the wave of the future. I expect some Labour Party activist still take it very seriously, and the Fabian Society is still a going concern, though basically a think tank. ...