Philosophy Weekly Newsletter - Thursday, December 31, 2015

Philosophy newsletter

Top new questions this week: How to assess philosophically whether String Theory is Science or rather Metaphysics? String theory substitutes basic particles with infinitesimal strings in order to reconcile the seemingly incompatible theories of gravity and of quantum world. But those new elements - the so called ... philosophy-of-science metaphysics   asked by student 15 votes answered by Alexander S King 15 votes What are some arguments against the brain-in-a-vat thought experiment? I read this article about how this guy in Switzerland did an experiment that he thought proved the Simulation Hypothesis of reality (link: http://arxiv.org/abs/1210.1847). I have also been reading ... philosophy-of-mind philosophy-of-physics physics reality skepticism   asked by Josh Zmijewski 10 votes answered by quen_tin 13 votes Why do epiphenomenalists believe that consciousness exists? Epiphenomenalists believe that consciousness exists but has no effect on the physical world. Why do they believe that consciousness exists? It would be a phenomenon completely unlike anything else in ... consciousness   asked by Richard Stanley 5 votes answered by Alexander S King 0 votes Can there be a priori truths for science? Can there be a priori truths for science, even if science is heavily based on the scientific method with empirical evidence? What if we're using examples like theoretical physics? Please explain. philosophy-of-science   asked by CCC 4 votes answered by Mauro ALLEGRANZA 3 votes What does Russell mean by "term" in Principles of Mathematics? Bertrand Russell in Principles of Mathematics defines a term as "Whatever may be an object of thought, or may occur in any true or false proposition or can be counted as one." Can someone elaborate on ... logic philosophy-of-mathematics terminology bertrand-russell philosophy-of-logic   asked by Mathmank 4 votes answered by Johannes 4 votes What are some arguments for that humans are more important than animals? Imagine a man has falled in a tiger cage. The tiger specimen is in danger of extinction. You can: Kill the tiger and save the man. Do nothing and let the tiger kill the man. By killing the tiger, ... ethics reference-request   asked by user18724 3 votes answered by Alexander S King 5 votes How is (A → B) → C different to A → (B → C)? This question derives from p 322, A Concise Introduction to Logic (12 Ed, 2014), by Patrick Hurley, but I do not quote it because its example presumes knowledge of pharmaceuticals and is too esoteric. ... logic   asked by LePressentiment 3 votes answered by Bumble 4 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: What is the difference between Rule Utilitarianism and Act Utilitarianism? Based on the definitions given by Wikipedia , Rule Utilitarianism and Act Utilitarianism both seems to imply the same meaning Rule Utilitarianism Action is right as it conforms to a rule that ... ethics utilitarianism   asked by Computernerd 5 votes answered by iphigenie 7 votes How is gun violence comparable to drunk driving? I just read "Is 'guns don't kill people people kill people' a good argument?" and it reminds me of another argument. I would like your opinion on whether or not it is a good argument. Gun Control ... logic argumentation   asked by Malachi 22 votes answered by ryan 20 votes Can you answer these? Can strong omnipotence be decomposed into "able to do all logically possible things" and "able to do all logically impossible things"? A lot of debate in the "omnipotent being" or "omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, omnibenevolent, etc." being debate revolves around the definition of the terms. I consider the "strong form" of ... epistemology omnipotence plantinga   asked by LightCC 1 vote How Would an Interpretivist Justify Using Game Theory? It is often said that interpretivist theory does not, in principle, reject quantitative methods. That said, how could an interpretivist defend using a quantitative method (e.g., statistical model; ... philosophy-of-science philosophy-of-mathematics   asked by WZS 1 vote How can rational choice theory be explanatory? In his work, John Harsanyi appears to have taken issue with classical social theorists' account of social phenomena. For example, he criticized Max Weber's typological approach on the grounds, "If we ... philosophy-of-science philosophy-of-mathematics rationality   asked by WZS 1 vote

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