Philosophy Now Forum

I find that a lot of philosophy is tied up with semantic meaning and the words we have to describe things are possibly inadequate to ensure that all humans understand the same thing if the words exist in their language. So to say that evil is at the right hand end of naughty might be the same as say...

It might be an idea to have a Philosophical Discussion panel on Evil as a central theme? I have noticed that some people state in their discussions that they 'don't believe in evil' and associate 'evil' with devils, hobgoblins, Lucifer and Mephistopheles much in the same way as Marlow's Dr Faustus. ...

Hi Rick This is the grain of sand in the oyster for sure. So irritating not to know how the 'whole picture' is built up. In TV the electrons strike the phosphor or the LEDs light up according to principles laid down back in the Bell Laboratories in the old days - with checksums and redundancy. So ev...

Hi again One more thing re 'God' and 'divinity'. There is one book written in the Middle Ages which is respected by the modern philosopher Derrida and others because although it is a 'Christian' book it seeks to understand what may beyond the normal forms of religious worship. It is a pretty clever ...

Hi No I don't mind you thinking that God exists at all. I'm studying metaphysics using the brilliant book 'Metaphysics - a guide and anthology' by Crane & Farkas (Oxford University Press) and the logic of the arguments tilts towards there being an entity behind creation - something more than jus...

Hi - that was a nice answer! It's good to know that someone does think that way.

I do mean 'the evolution of the mind' - not just the brain. There are several great books about mapping the increasing capabilities of the mind.
I'll pop a list of these books in here tomorrow.

cheers

Darkstar

Physicists say that the space between atoms is filled by the virtual vacuum full of short-lived particles which come in and out of existence in less than what is called 'Planck time' - and this has been experimentally examined by two scientists called Hendrik Casimir and Dirk Polder: See here - and ...

Wow! As a newbie I didn't know I'd get any response let alone the strongly felt reactions in all your posts. Thanks very much. Personally I hope that we can overcome our natural tendencies to possess more and more. The centuries preceding the 17th were marked by superstition, witchcraft and alchemy ...

It seems that we spend more on weapons, war-fighting and training for war than we do on diplomacy and peacemaking. Do you think we humans can ever avoid war? Do you think it just comes down to the winner's rape and murder of wives and children and how to stop that? Having to fight because giving you...

Some people believe that the brain acts like a radio receiver - that consciousness is a 'field' - an external and eternally existing source available for reception by plants and animals provided your 'radio set' is good enough and tuned in. if you are a worm, your radio is not good enough to have a ...

Hi The shortest possible time was described by one of the forum users back in 2015 but it is also defined in Carlo Rovelli's book 'Reality is not what it seems - the journey into quantum gravity'. At the Planck interval scale in the theory of quantum gravity the concept and properties of time break ...

Dear Rick I enjoyed your amusing article. It covers the key aspects of current debate. However I'd like to make a few points, hopefully without seeming to challenge you, as I am a newbie. Loop quantum Gravity and 'Nothing'. if you accept Carlo Rovelli's description of loop quantum gravity then you e...

Hi I am a student at the Open University studying for a BA(Hons) Arts & Humanities. I am interested in the relationship between physics, metaphysics and esoteric (rejected) knowledge. Separately I am studying epistemology, knowledge, hermeneutics, causation and human evolution of the mind. Your ...