Philosophy Now Forum

the meaning of words is their use and is always a private event... the approximation of meaning is never exact- communication is roughly done at best... e.g. your idea of the meaning of pain is not the same as the woman who gives birth... to clarify: a slave was a slave until the slave's cry of ind...

Okay. That entails that the academics and elite thinkers are more "persons" than are ordinary people. Then people with lower IQs are less "persons." Perhaps the mentally handicapped are even less "persons" than that. The elderly, once their brains are enfeebled, are ba...

slaves were property, not persons; just as fetuses are "extensions" of the mother... southern slaves who made it north (different herd) became "free" people until they were "returned" expressions of individuality that fall on deaf ears, deny it... -Imp This line of arg...

Jeff, welcome to the bear garden that is the Philosophy Now Forum! If you are looking for the warm companionship of like minds, I can confidently predict you will not find it here. Here we have a collection of competitive egos, few of whom are capable either of sustaining a proper argument or of re...

Well, okay: but immediately, there's a problem. Some people are more intelligent than others. Does that mean that they are more "persons" than others? And some are less intelligent: does that entail that they are less "persons"? That would be an even more dangerous idea, especia...

I'm actually pretty open to being persuaded here. I don't have a really solid argument for what entails personhood. I think the definitions I've come up with are pretty unsatisfactory, but my instinctual feelings about what makes a person are something like this: Intelligence capabilities are a big ...

Am I a person? If so, what are the qualities & characteristics that make me a 'person'? recognition by the herd, unless one is a solipsist -Imp I don't know if I can agree with that definition, it seems to allow for some pretty morally problematic issues to arise. For instance, slavery didn't m...

Leftism has given us public health, schools for everyone, employment legislation, human rights, and many other freedoms. Nope. Public schools came from Evangelical Christians in Victorian England. So did labour reforms, jail reforms, anti-slavery, children's rights...and on, and on. Leftism has com...

I read through some of the responses, and they seem to have devolved pretty quickly, but not knowing the author or his intentions, I think the question has merit. Is there a line between being a person and just being alive? After all, being alive, in the biological sense, doesn't necessarily imply p...

I'm relatively new to the magazine, so forgive me if this has been done/suggested already. I'd love to see a historical issue. Something that focuses more on the historical progression of ideas with their roots. I think understanding the people and the circumstances that the ideas came from help us ...

Hi, Jeff. Welcome to the boards. Your topics are vigoriously discussed here, but alas, you'll need to wade through a bunch of solidified opinions. Each of us here carries a personality into the debates we take part of, and most of us take nothing away from the table. The level is somewhat below an ...

Hello All! I'm excited to be a part of this online community. I have an undergraduate degree in philosophy, and it has remained a passion of mine even though my career has led me in a different direction. My main areas of interest are Philosophy of the Mind, Free Will, and Ethical Philosophy. I'd lo...

Hello All, I'm Jeff. I have an undergrad in Philosophy and have a few minor published papers. I'm looking to get back into philosophical conversation and thought. I've gone down the corporate rabbit hole and it's dulled my senses. My main areas of interest are: Philosophy of Mind Freewill Arguments ...