Philosophy Definition and 340 Threads

I sort of see philosophy as standing by itself in comparison to the other two subjects in question. I've found physics and cosmology to be inextricably linked in many ways. I was wondering if anybody had a recommendation regarding what to study first (even though I've technically already studied...

I was arguing with him for about 30 minutes in his office and finally convinced him to raise my mid term grade by a (total) of 14%. :biggrin: :smile: I now have a B (in any other grading system it'd be an A, but you need 90% to get an A in this class - stupid)

What are your favorite quotes, from scientists, about philosophical questions? Explain why if you want, or let the quotes stand on their own. ========================================================== I don't think we're here for anything, we're just products of evolution. You can say...

Helllo all, I was just wondering what are the similarities and differences do philosophy and religion have with one another? I believe that each religion, insofar as it uses logical reasoning, is an example of philosophy. That's the only similarity that i can think of. thanks

We recently had to reevaluate where philosophy fits in the scheme of things. When creating a general category, as exists on some web directories on the web for example, philosophy's place is always a strange and undecided one. Besides placing it in its own category, where would you place it...

I have convinced my english teacher to let me use The Elegant Universe as an independant reading novel for my Literature and Philosophy class. (As a sidenote, this is really exciting to me because now my entire day (except for band) is science/math: AP Chem, teacher's assistant during AP Chem...

I'm writing an economics essay, and I'm essentially trying to support the ideal economy. My choices are more government involvement (socialism - keynnes), less government involvement (Capitalism - friedman), and a mixed economy (Galbraith). I'm trying to support a mixed economy. But i just...

I thought i would comply with the standards of PF and rephrase this: Philosophy tends to be diverse and nowadays everything whether empirical or humanist seems to be collaged into this vast field of thought. There are some obvious examples of where people have suffered as a result of...

Simple question. In the past fifty years philosophy seems to have become increasingly irrelevant, as philosophers beat the same dead horse of the classic "philosophical problems: time, God, consciousness, free will, ect. Have we made any advancements? Do those advancements matter? Are we just...

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i am looking for suggestions for any kinds of books on any kind of philosophy. does anyone have suggestions? if you do please state the subject of the book.

I have just been reading in this wonderful memoir of Francis Crick in the New York Review of Books, how real scientists responded to a case of an artist who had lost the ability to see colors. And then I read hypnagogues's defense of the latest chapter in A place for Consciousness, in which he...

What is the difference between Degree of Engineer and Doctor of Philosophy ( Ph.D )? How many more years does a Master Degree holder need to take one of each?

Dennett's own explanation of heterophenomenology. Tell me what you think.

Hey do any of you guys study philosophy or wish to? Do you study something else and wish you studied philosophy instead? I think that philosophy is the most interisting of all the academic displines that there are and definately the most broad and far reaching of them also what can or you...

Mentat has been sighted in Philosophy. :smile: No sight of Gale17, though ! :frown:

What is the difference between Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Engineering for an engineering student? What shall I choose?

I would like to get a rough idea of the education level of the participants in the Philosophy Forum. What is your education in this field? Have you taken courses or have a degree? Or are you just interested?

Somehow I still believe psychology is just a part of philosophy, as one's psychology should be controlled by his or her philosophy... what do you think? :redface:

What I have concluded for the philosophy of success is a very simple one. So I would also like to call that "the simplest philosophy leads to the most successful consequence"... Anyway, this philosophy is "Your true believes are always expressed and only expressed in your actions" There have...

Materialism is based largely on reductionism, which has its problems rooted in that one cannot keep cutting up the world into smaller and smaller pieces. Though reductionism has proved very valuable in scientific discoveries, I think one who believes all the answers lie in reductionism is...

I was hesitant to post this thread in this specific forum. Although i do not think it would be appropriate in the more physics-centered Homework Help forum. I am creating an outline (as well as a précis) for a short 10 minute presentation i have to have finished in a couple of days. The topic...

does it make sense if i define that the shape of a circle is infinity, which i write its equation as: x^2+y^2 = ∞ i know that infinity means very very big until we cannot define how big is it. in this case, is the equation above still valid? can i still say that the shape of this...

Does someone by chance have James Rachels' "Divine Command Theory", and wouldn't mind scanning it, or know of where the file exists? Need it by the 25th, please... Merci

Our species has fought its way to the top of the food chain, and now it has nothing left to do. There is plenty of food for anyone who wants it, so where do we go from here? How can we use the faculties that the mad drive for dominance of the food chain has given us? We have long since won...

Basically Christianity is a blessing philosophy. Choose life and not death - you're urged to make the Right Choice.

I'm not sure if this has been thought of, posted, or ran over before, but it's something I'm curious about.. Simply put, what is the ratio of singular to non-singular matrices? I've been thinking that it would probably be easier to start with a specific size, then work out from that. So...

In my opinion philosophy as taught in our colleges and universities has practical value but that value is well disguised under layers of mumbo-jumbo. I think our philosophical academicians have ignored a responsibility to the common-good. A citizenry well grounded in philosophical...

I contend that there is no fairness in taxation. I'm not saying that taxes are unfair. On the contrary, I am saying fairness does not enter into the matter. There is a theory that all wealth is fortuitous, or "lucky". There is the extreme case of the people who win the lottery, or inherit...

I have chosen to go the route of the law via philosophy major. Any strong convictions about lawyers and the state of modern society because of their impact.? To many, Lawyers are the scum of the earth. They lie they cheat and they steal their way to nice italian shoes. But to me, Lawyers...

Science-iffication of philosophy. Solving questions such as "what is fair?" The topic probably makes you think I'm crazy, and perhaps I am mistaken. The issue in all philosophy is semantic in nature and english distorts our ability to think. I have a method to solve these issues...

The topic probably makes you think I'm crazy, and perhaps I am mistaken. The issue in all philosophy is semantic in nature and english distorts our ability to think. I have a method to solve these issues: http://www.orbular.com Please only add to this thread if you have examined the...

any other people in here majoring in philosophy, and if so, where do you plan to build your career's at? I am going into pre-law so this fits well but if i get attached enough i may just become a philo prof..

Years ago I was forced to study this play by Samuel Beckett, and as a high school teen I found it incredibly frustrating and yet something about it stuck in my mind. I felt a sense of intense futility and cyclic logic of being lost in a labarynth of despair and hopelessness or more to the point...

I came here tonight, and i didn't know what to expect. I seen a lot of people hating me, and i didn't know what to feel about that, so i guess i didn't like you too much either. During this "fight", I seen a lot of changing, the way you's felt about me, and the way i felt about you. In...

Being generally ignorant of Middle Eastern philosophy, but admiring their art, history, science, society and scholarship, I would like to know what sharing of knowledge you would volunteer as mutually beneficial to both their and my (Western) peoples.

Penny 4 your thoughts.

I am interested in learning about the social progress of the United States and other countries. Specifically, I would like to have the following questions answered: 1. How has television, internet influenced our society's way of thinking (even in the post subtle ways) 2. How is the...

I believe I have posted this question before, but it was never discussed much. So, here it is again: An attempt to define freedom... A simple question can get us started: 1) Is a man in a cage free, if he has no wish to leave that cage? It seems to me there are two possible answers...

Lets assume that it is technically feasible to copy every quanti of the human body and arrange them in perfect harmony. Was hoping to get a debate going as to why so many people are *shrugging* at the concept of teleportation. Mainly the idea that because an original is destroyed somehow were...

http://www.marxist.com/rircontents.asp This book analyses how modern science and dialectics are interconnected, why nature works dialectically etc. When I first read the book, I was really astonished by dialecticalm materialism. If you never heard anything about dialectical materialism, it...

Does anyone know what "Paternalism" mean? This concept was adressed in "Causing and Death and Saving Lives" by Glover. So does anyone know? Thanks in advance...

UNDER CONSTRUCTION This thread is meant to be an information resource, just like my Physics Napster in the Physics Forum. It will become fuller and better organized with time. General Philosophy--Reference Materials Added 4/6/04 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Philosophy Pages Marxists...

I'm collecting unmanswered and unanswerable questions, paradoxes and problems from philosophy and science and would welcome any contributions. The sort of thing I mean is Zeno's paradoxes, Russell's paradox, the problem of attributes, the problem of consciousness, the wave-particle duality...

What forces act on a thrown baseball? (Assuming the baseball motion is an upside down parabola). What forces act on a thrown baseball? 1) After the first fraction of second after it leaves your hands? 2) After it leaves your hands and at the top of it motion (top of the parabola). Some people...

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i have been looking for a definition of spacetime, not something described by pure mathematics, but the real world space time that has some tangibility, the one that can be bent, twisted ,and have effects on time, the fabric of spacetime, relativity, QLG, string, all give different answers...

I'm not really going to comment to much on this. I was just wondering what some people's opinions were on the differences, if any, between philosophy and religion. I think some confusion arises because there can be more than one meaning to the word "philosophy". It could mean a belief system...

What is hate?

I have heard that today's mathematicians are discussing what zero really is. Are there any good resources on this on the net?