Questions tagged [introduction-to-philosophy]
Used when an inquisitor or question posed might occur at the undergraduate or lower level of institutional philosophical pedagogy. Certain basic ideas about metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology often occur to adults without philosophical education. Common recurring introductory questions ask after answers commonly satisfied by introductory articles, and sometimes such entries are themselves unclear and overly complicated.
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Is it ethical to break a law even if it is to do the “right thing”?
In this situation, you could, say, murder the current president because they’re an awful dictator. In that sense, would it still be ethical to do said deed? Many people break laws like this and use an ...
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Is it possible to reach infinity by successive addition? [closed]
Is it truly impossible for a mathematician to reach infinity through successive addition, such as 100 + 100 + 100...?
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Are mathematics and science algorithmic?
Continuing What is the relationship between algorithms and logic? my second question is Can we write all the definitions in iff statements and theorems in if-then statements. I mean algorithms have ...
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Are religion first and science second, as we currently approach it, a system of mass control? [closed]
Can we consider that religion in the past and modern science today share similarities as systems of mass control, given their role in regulating collective beliefs and behaviors?
Introduction to ...
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Is humanity entirely structured and rule based, akin to an algorithm? [closed]
My question refers to whether DNA makes humanity operate like a computer program.
Context: Here are a number of observations I have made that have lead me to question the traditional understanding ...
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Is there a relationship between the concepts of a 'theory of everything' and 'intelligent design'?
I'm not sure of the relationship between them. On the one hand, intelligent design seems to suggest that there is a creator who might be in control over everything and dictate the set of rules in the ...
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Will there be an end to new discoveries in mathematics?
Are new discoveries in math going someday to disappear? Will we reach the last theorem someday? This is somewhat similar to the question "do we discover or invent math? because it seems we might ...
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What is reification in philosophy of science and why is it a fallacy?
This is related to what someone said as I was coming across topics on this site and looking through stuff. Here is the remark:
to understand why natural kinds are constructed, why abstract objects ...
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Faith and Evidence: Two Types of Trust? [closed]
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines faith as:
Faith is a trusting commitment to someone or something. Faith helps us meet our goals, keeps our relationships secure, and enables us to ...
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Are probabilities in games of chance any more objective than in other contexts?
As a disclaimer, by “objective”, I do not mean “objective” in the sense of everyone agreeing upon a certain matter. By objective, I mean a certain notion of a probability that does not depend on the ...
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Is any fictional knowledge purely a priori knowledge?
I suppose the alternative is that fictional knowledge is empirical.
Currently I’m thinking fictional knowledge is an important issue regarding the debate surrounding a priori vs a posteriori knowledge....
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Can the science of logic exist when there are no commonly accepted objective philosophical facts? [closed]
Philosophy distinguishes itself with the science of logic. But if other branches of science always have a set of commonly accepted facts as well as commonly accepted unknowns/assumptions, in ...
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Aren't "never-ending" numbers like PI and root 2 a sign that the present rules that build counting numbers insufficient?
In coordinate system we already assume that the measurements used to define space is:
Divided into equal units
We also assume that a unit in number system (1,2,3,4 etc.) can only be divided into 2 ...
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What are 100 good philosophical books frequently recommended by professional philosophers? [closed]
I am a complete newbie to philosophy and have set myself a reading challenge of 100 books. The plan will be to curate a list of books and read them in that order. I would ideally like a selection that ...
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Are there any one-word idioms? [closed]
Definition 1. An idiom is a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.
Definition 2. An idiom is a phrase or expression that has a ...
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