Philosophy Weekly Newsletter - Thursday, July 31, 2014

Philosophy newsletter

Top new questions this week: Where did Machiavelli say that "the ends justify the means"? I have read The Prince, Discourses on Livy and The Art of War. In none of these books did I find the quote oft-attributed to Machiavelli that "the ends justify the means". Did he say it? If so, where? … reference-request machiavelli   asked by musingsofacigarettesmokingman 11 votes answered by D3L 12 votes Is our Philosophy, the Human Philosophy, the only possible Philosophy which can exist? What I'm asking is if is there any possibility for a Non-human Philosophy, that is, a Philosophy founded on questions which we can't even conceive. Is possible a Philosophy of questions which only can … epistemology metaphysics ontology metaphilosophy critique-of-pure-reason   asked by Fractalon 7 votes answered by Rex Kerr 6 votes Do people have the right to split off part of a sovereign state? On one hand we have sovereign nation states with stable, recognised borders. On the other hand there can be groups of people inside them that want to split off to become independent, or join a … ethics democracy state   asked by Jeroen Kransen 5 votes answered by virmaior 7 votes What reason does an individual have to vote? Given that the outcome of an election will be the same whether one individual votes or not, what reason does that individual have to vote? Obviously there is an extremely unlikely case where one vote … democracy   asked by Jake 4 votes answered by Rex Kerr 3 votes Roko's Basilisk as Descartes' evil genius? I'll try to pose a shortened version of Roko's Basilisk below and then ask about how it relates to Descartes' evil genius: The idea is that down the line may it be decades or centuries from … epistemology philosophy-of-science truth descartes   asked by dhillonv10 4 votes answered by Xodarap 2 votes How and why is this an equivocation (logical fallacy)? I tried this reference, but don't perceive the following, at 60%-way down this page: "Nothing is better than" Margarine is better than nothing. Nothing is better than butter. … logic fallacies   asked by LePressentiment 4 votes answered by ig0774 7 votes Logical consequence and material conditional - Are they the same? I'm taking basic discrete math course which includes basic intuitive introduction to logic (only things like statements, tautology truth tables, etc.). During the learning, I've wondered what is the … logic philosophy-of-logic   asked by user1767774 4 votes answered by Hunan Rostomyan 5 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: What would it take in a book to convince a rational person that it had been written by or directly inspired by a god? Many of the world's religions are based on a book or text that adherents claim to have been written by or directly inspired by a god, perhaps omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent. My question is … epistemology theology hermeneutics   asked by JDH 55 votes answered by Lennart Regebro 34 votes In modal logic, why not 'possibly p' → 'not necessarily p'? I'm told that if ◇ means 'possible' and ◻ means 'necessary' and ~ means 'not' and ↔ means 'if and only if', then ◇P ↔ ~◻~P I get that if it is not necessarily not going to be sunny … modal-logic   asked by Diploria 10 votes answered by Hunan Rostomyan 10 votes Can you answer these? How to self-learn legal arguments, logic, and reasoning? What are some readable, eloquent (without legalese) books on arguments, fallacies, logic, and reasoning, as applied and used in law? This question is aimed towards a greenhorn/tenderfoot with … logic reference-request fallacies philosophy-of-law applications   asked by LePressentiment 2 votes What philosophical school does Raskolnikov belong to in Crime and Punishment? At the beginning of the novel, Raskolnikov sees himself as a "superman," a person who is extraordinary and thus above the moral rules that govern the rest of humanity. His estimation of himself … ethics   asked by musingsofacigarettesmokingman 1 vote

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