Philosophy Now Forum

Also, there are many examples of working models that haven't answered all questions. Unanswered questions do not negate the model. A model is revised or dropped when contradictory evidence is discovered.

Yes...do you live near people and do you have any weapons? I'm concerned if the answer to either of those questions is yes.

First Lesson : Never depend on others to achieve 'gain'. Go into all interchanges decisively to 'gain' by your own effort and choice. Gain despite others. If that is not a prime lesson on a philosophically corrupt forum as this one often seems, I know not what would be ... Are those the teachings o...

I had nothing to say about a superior moral position and do not assume I have one. I was speaking of intellectual integrity. You will find that 'flippancy', 'chest-beating', sarcasm, rudeness, and name-calling is part-and-parcel of the field here. Take it in stride but do not hold back from articul...

One speaks, one articulates, and there is no response at all. The have all the language of 'jackdaws'. U WOT M8. It's an egocentric position that others' beliefs do not matter. What are the consequences when you deny the value of someone else's belief? On what ground does your belief matter more th...

Gustav Bjornstrand wrote:The problem is that there are consequences both to atheism as a modern trend, and just as much to unexamined religiousness and religious obsessiveness.

What are the consequences of being an atheist regarding Vishnu? What are the consequences of being an atheist regarding Allah?

If we are to accept the theory of Darwin that natural characteristics are the result of random mutation and natural selection, then it cannot be said that things have a purpose. But this is exactly what is implied, time and time again in statements such as "The butterfly has beautiful red wing...

So what is evolution? Evolution is a three part idea: one is the concept of common ancestry (I.e., living things descended with modification from common ancestors); two, the pattern of evolution (e.g., taxonomic systems) that show the branching and splitting that has occurred with evolution, and; t...

I make all kinds of choices (weighing, considering, deciding, doing) all the time. True...but these processes are still dependent upon your prior experiences. You might not be destined to commit a given action, but the actions you make are the result of prior causes you could not be entirely aware ...

All the logic in the world doesn't negate what I know by way of self-interrogation. It certainly does SEEM that way. It's difficult to see why the slight change in formulation would cause so much concern. What you feel in a given moment would not change by thinking that there are natural causes of ...

Greetings, Briancrc Have you ever employed behavioral engineering to control over-eating and/or violence? If so, how did it work out? Did you ever manage a token economy? By this I mean, did you ever give or withhold tokens (and time-outs) from young kids as a way of reducing anti-social tendencies...

When someone offers a view of determinism and the response by another is, "You're stupid," is the person offering up the insult determined to be a douche or choosing to be one?

The symbolism and metaphor if you want to call it that, came after i was made aware of its existence. I viewed the world from a different angle and saw anomalies that were too remote to be mere coincidence (in my opinion). It's like there were events whose probability of occurrence were too great t...

(or states of deprivation the satiation of which are reeinforcing – to use behaviorist terminology). What does the end there, "reinforcing", mean? What is reinforced? Behavior - and motivation - are what are reinforced. B. F. Skinner wrote extensively on Schedules of Reinforcement. Some r...

Well the primary problem with behaviourism for my part is that it doesn't say anything of what it means to be human feeling and thinking and enjoying life, it's cold and methodological, anti-humane in a way, perverse in the sense it seeks only to send animals and humans into submission, instead of ...