Philosophy Now Forum

Jeez, I've been here nearly 40 years and I had to make up my own. I'm a migrant myself, mate, for almost the same length of time, so I hear you loud and clear. Paying through the nose to keep the Rineharts, Packers, et al on the gravy train is but one of our treasured cultural traditions. We have q...

Greatest I am wrote: Only a satanic p**** would bring such a picture to my mind.

Greatest I am wrote:As to hell, check how many Americans of low intelligence believe in the traditional burning hell. High 60s last time I looked.

You find any Aussies buying it, mate, because we know exactly what hell is. Hell is when the brewery workers go on strike.

Actually, anyone who is interested in this thread should read the article that someone has reposted (Is that you, Grant?): http://forum.philosophynow.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=15577 Briefly: Newton set the agenda for physics by insisting that it is enough for physics to account for what happens....

I have to echo everyone else's objection to how you've treated Newton, Leo. I know all the stories of Newton's wackiness, but he did produce the first mathematical model of the universe that actually worked (to a large extent) and invented a new branch of mathematics in the process. That's more tha...

As it happens, there is no scientific justification for String Theory; it is a mathematical model for which there is zero empirical evidence. It's all but dead, uwot, and will not rear its ugly head again. All the stringies are now looking for various ways to claim they never really meant it. The n...

I should think that the title of Larry Krauss' book should tell us about as much as we need to know about his credentials as a commentator on matters of philosophy. However in general the title does make a bit a bit more sense than the content.

Do String Theorists, for example, actually believe that fundamental particles are 'made of' vibrating one dimensional 'strings', or do they posit them as a mathematical tool, which they hope will provide observable results? The modern-day geeks have ontologised their tool-kit and regard their maps ...

Insofar as science is concerned, philosophy has nothing to say, provides zero input and only commentary after the fact. This is not the way it used to be but nothing is the way it used to be. Among the sciences wherever philosophy is inflected it distorts to become virtually useless. Philosophy now...

It is a common fallacy that a fluency in mathematics is a measure of human intelligence. However there is not the slightest scrap of evidence to support this myth. Not only was he a religious fanatic but Newton was also an all-round dunderhead obsessed with all manner of primitive fantasies and he h...

If the definition of "atheist" carries any weight, the label certainly conveys " information other than the fact that one is not a theist." I can't agree with this or with any of the rest of your post if we're talking about the word "atheist" as it is applied in the co...

I never, ever do the big rocks! Or the cat in the box or the thumbnail of a giant. I'm pleased to hear it, Skip. As I see it this leaves only the minor matter of the angels on the head of a pin as a question yet to be resolved. At this stage I am yet to commit to a firm position on this matter but ...

While I'm still roughly on topic I also agree that the Ankh could not have been the precursor of the Christian crucifixion symbol. That clever idea could only have been the handiwork of the well-known psychopath Saul of Tarsus. The original Christian symbol of the fish would have been too hippy a no...

It's a pretty crappy piece of evidence I know but the word "Amen" has a history which predates the old testament, which was written many centuries after the exodus because at that time the Judeans had no written language. Amen hotep was named in honour of the big-shot god Amun . I hate coi...

There is no entity "Atheist" in the sense that they have or require a system of belief. For most atheists I know, it is belief that is the problem. But Atheist is simply a place-marker for no being a Theist, which can be a range of incompatible beliefs. Agreed. To label oneself an atheist...