The term non-sequitur
As Wikipedia notes,i the term is used in everyday speech to deny a conditional (if-then statement), and it is also used in logic to mean an invalid argument. This together…
Belief, disbelief; agreement, disagreement
There is often some confusion surrounding the terms: belief, disbelief, agreement and disagreement when used in a philosophical context. We need to keep in mind that normal dictionary definitions are…
Two kinds of certainty
A quick explanation of two types of certainty that people tend to confuse. The first is the one we typically mean in natural language. It's called psychological certainty. It's a…
Why something rather than nothing? An argument for the necessity of a something-world
PDF due to mathematical expressions that Wordpress does not support. why-something-rather-than-nothing_-an-argument-for-the-necessity-of-a-something-world
Motivation, reason, the impossible
Inspired by reading of David Hume's Enquiry concerning the principles of Morals (EPM) edited by Tom L. Beauchamp.1 "Hume is often interpreted as arguing that no value judgment--however extreme, obscene,…
Contraries and contradictories
Contraries If one looks in a general dictionary one will not a find a definition of contrary that is philosophically useful.i I looked the word up in a philosophical dictionary…
Swartz' "Philosophy as a Blood Sport"
Copyright © Norman Swartz 1994 URL http://www.sfu.ca/philosophy/swartz/blood_sport.htm This revision: April 9, 1994 Department of Philosophy Simon Fraser University These notes may be freely reproduced, in whole or in part, provided…
Does a sound LPoE establish that god is impossible?
I've heard that claim, but do you think it is true? I don't. All LPoEs (Logical Problem of Evil's) can be seen as an inconsistent set of propositions. Here's a…
Atheism/Theism and Agnosticism – Definitions
-------------- Introduction In this essay I will explore the two major competing nomenclatures concerned with the definition of atheism, theism and agnosticism. Then I will argue that the new…
Objective propositions?
Over at FRDB we recently discussed whether propositions are objective (i.e. exist independent of any mind). Usually, I prefer to take a nominalist approach, but in this thread I decided…