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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 11:48 am
(This post was last modified: September 30, 2016 at 11:48 am by robvalue.)
I subscribe to methodological naturalism (or materialism I suppose). I find no need to assume the testable world is all there is. But for all practical purposes, anything untestable can be ignored. You don't have any choice, in fact.
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 12:08 pm
Considering weighing in here but the woo dressed up as philosophy is strong in this thread.
There is no reason to think that materialism isn't enough and a myriad of reasons to think that it is.
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 12:09 pm
(September 30, 2016 at 3:27 am)Bunburryist Wrote: (September 29, 2016 at 4:53 pm)Gemini Wrote: I think the argument from explanatory success and a tendency toward empiricist epistemology have more to do with the prevalence of mind/body physicalism here. The machine metaphor is obviously outdated to any one with a passing familiarity with contemporary cognitive and neuroscience.
Yes, but the basic context of "thing makes mind" is still there. Sure, it's not exactly "mechanistic," but it's still a matter of explaining experience in terms of something happening in a thing in a material world - as opposed to (and this is the crux of my post) the idea that material world is not a world that exists and in the terms of which experience is explained, but rather is a way we learn to think about this experience we learn to call "the world." I know that sound rather vague, but it's what I call a "world of difference difference." They present two fundamentally different realities.
Why does anyone need to worry about "what makes mind"? It isn't my job to produce my mind. It is a given. But so long as we're just shooting the shit, what is your preferred just-so story for how a mind has come to be?
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 1:07 pm
(September 30, 2016 at 11:48 am)robvalue Wrote: I subscribe to methodological naturalism (or materialism I suppose). I find no need to assume the testable world is all there is. But for all practical purposes, anything untestable can be ignored. You don't have any choice, in fact.
Well that pretty much rules out the arts and humanities.
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 1:08 pm
(September 30, 2016 at 12:08 pm)Mathilda Wrote: Considering weighing in here but the woo dressed up as philosophy is strong in this thread.
There is no reason to think that materialism isn't enough and a myriad of reasons to think that it is.
Strong belief in that, but little actual proof, methinks.
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 1:12 pm
It's probably a mistake associating "Occam" with this philosophy. I am not finding "fewest assumptions".
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 2:01 pm
(September 30, 2016 at 1:08 pm)bennyboy Wrote: Strong belief in that, but little actual proof, methinks.
Proof of materialism vs. idealism?
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 2:10 pm
(This post was last modified: September 30, 2016 at 2:13 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
(September 30, 2016 at 1:07 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: (September 30, 2016 at 11:48 am)robvalue Wrote: I subscribe to methodological naturalism (or materialism I suppose). I find no need to assume the testable world is all there is. But for all practical purposes, anything untestable can be ignored. You don't have any choice, in fact.
Well that pretty much rules out the arts and humanities.
....lol.....why? Art and humanity exist, and are both material......If you want to know whether or not the mona lisa exists, or whether or not james joyce wrote the greatest novel ever written - it's fairly simple to devise a test. This is the kind of claim that leaves me wondering what the opponents of materialism think materialism is. It suggests, to me, that their objections are likely to be a long list of non-sequiturious arguments from consequence and ignorance.
"We don't know this, we can't explain that...this other thing I like -i think- would be affected!"
So what, so what....and so what?
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 2:24 pm
Funny thing is, every single material and non-material thing (laws) of Man's civilization was once just an idea in someone's imagination.
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RE: Occams Hatchet and Is Materialism "Special"
September 30, 2016 at 2:48 pm
I bet you think that means something.
Well, the usual suspects are all here, at least. 
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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