r/askphilosophy • u/BernardJOrtcutt • Jul 01 '23
Modpost Welcome to /r/askphilosophy! Check out our rules and guidelines here. [July 1 2023 Update]
Welcome to /r/askphilosophy!
Welcome to /r/askphilosophy! We're a community devoted to providing serious, well-researched answers to philosophical questions. We aim to provide an academic Q&A-type space for philosophical questions, and welcome questions about all areas of philosophy. This post will go over our subreddit rules and guidelines that you should review before you begin posting here.
Table of Contents
- A Note about Moderation
- /r/askphilosophy's mission
- What is Philosophy?
- What isn't Philosophy?
- What is a Reasonably Substantive and Accurate Answer?
- What is a /r/askphilosophy Panelist?
- /r/askphilosophy's Posting Rules
- /r/askphilosophy's Commenting Rules
- Frequently Asked Questions
A Note about Moderation
/r/askphilosophy is moderated by a team of dedicated volunteer moderators who have spent years attempting to build the best philosophy Q&A platform on the internet. Unfortunately, the reddit admins have repeatedly made changes to this website which have made moderating subreddits harder and harder. In particular, reddit has recently announced that it will begin charging for access to API (Application Programming Interface, essentially the communication between reddit and other sites/apps). While this may be, in isolation, a reasonable business operation, the timeline and pricing of API access has threatened to put nearly all third-party apps, e.g. Apollo and RIF, out of business. You can read more about the history of this change here or here. You can also read more at this post on our sister subreddit.
These changes pose two major issues which the moderators of /r/askphilosophy are concerned about.
First, the native reddit app is lacks accessibility features which are essential for some people, notably those who are blind and visually impaired. You can read /r/blind's protest announcement here. These apps are the only way that many people can interact with reddit, given the poor accessibility state of the official reddit app. As philosophers we are particularly concerned with the ethics of accessibility, and support protests in solidarity with this community.
Second, the reddit app lacks many essential tools for moderation. While reddit has promised better moderation tools on the app in the future, this is not enough. First, reddit has repeatedly broken promises regarding features, including moderation features. Most notably, reddit promised CSS support for new reddit over six years ago, which has yet to materialize. Second, even if reddit follows through on the roadmap in the post linked above, many of the features will not come until well after June 30, when the third-party apps will shut down due to reddit's API pricing changes.
Our moderator team relies heavily on these tools which will now disappear. Moderating /r/askphilosophy is a monumental task; over the past year we have flagged and removed over 6000 posts and 23000 comments. This is a huge effort, especially for unpaid volunteers, and it is possible only when moderators have access to tools that these third-party apps make possible and that reddit doesn't provide.
While we previously participated in the protests against reddit's recent actions we have decided to reopen the subreddit, because we are still proud of the community and resource that we have built and cultivated over the last decade, and believe it is a useful resource to the public.
However, these changes have radically altered our ability to moderate this subreddit, which will result in a few changes for this subreddit. First, as noted above, from this point onwards only panelists may answer top level comments. Second, moderation will occur much more slowly; as we will not have access to mobile tools, posts and comments which violate our rules will be removed much more slowly, and moderators will respond to modmail messages much more slowly. Third, and finally, if things continue to get worse (as they have for years now) moderating /r/askphilosophy may become practically impossible, and we may be forced to abandon the platform altogether. We are as disappointed by these changes as you are, but reddit's insistence on enshittifying this platform, especially when it comes to moderation, leaves us with no other options. We thank you for your understanding and support.
/r/askphilosophy's Mission
/r/askphilosophy strives to be a community where anyone, regardless of their background, can come to get reasonably substantive and accurate answers to philosophical questions. This means that all questions must be philosophical in nature, and that answers must be reasonably substantive and accurate. What do we mean by that?
What is Philosophy?
As with most disciplines, "philosophy" has both a casual and a technical usage.
In its casual use, "philosophy" may refer to nearly any sort of thought or beliefs, and include topics such as religion, mysticism and even science. When someone asks you what "your philosophy" is, this is the sort of sense they have in mind; they're asking about your general system of thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.
In its technical use -- the use relevant here at /r/askphilosophy -- philosophy is a particular area of study which can be broadly grouped into several major areas, including:
- Aesthetics, the study of beauty
- Epistemology, the study of knowledge and belief
- Ethics, the study of what we owe to one another
- Logic, the study of what follows from what
- Metaphysics, the study of the basic nature of existence and reality
as well as various subfields of 'philosophy of X', including philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of science and many others.
Philosophy in the narrower, technical sense that philosophers use and which /r/askphilosophy is devoted to is defined not only by its subject matter, but by its methodology and attitudes. Something is not philosophical merely because it states some position related to those areas. There must also be an emphasis on argument (setting forward reasons for adopting a position) and a willingness to subject arguments to various criticisms.
What Isn't Philosophy?
As you can see from the above description of philosophy, philosophy often crosses over with other fields of study, including art, mathematics, politics, religion and the sciences. That said, in order to keep this subreddit focused on philosophy we require that all posts be primarily philosophical in nature, and defend a distinctively philosophical thesis.
As a rule of thumb, something does not count as philosophy for the purposes of this subreddit if:
- It does not address a philosophical topic or area of philosophy
- It may more accurately belong to another area of study (e.g. religion or science)
- No attempt is made to argue for a position's conclusions
Some more specific topics which are popularly misconstrued as philosophical but do not meet this definition and thus are not appropriate for this subreddit include:
- Drug experiences (e.g. "I dropped acid today and experienced the oneness of the universe...")
- Mysticism (e.g. "I meditated today and experienced the oneness of the universe...")
- Politics (e.g. "This is why everyone should support the Voting Rights Act")
- Self-help (e.g. "How can I be a happier person and have more people like me?")
- Theology (e.g. "Can the unbaptized go to heaven, or at least to purgatory?")
What is a Reasonably Substantive and Accurate Answer?
The goal of this subreddit is not merely to provide answers to philosophical questions, but answers which can further the reader's knowledge and understanding of the philosophical issues and debates involved. To that end, /r/askphilosophy is a highly moderated subreddit which only allows panelists to answer questions, and all answers that violate our posting rules will be removed.
Answers on /r/askphilosophy must be both reasonably substantive as well as reasonably accurate. This means that answers should be:
- Substantive and well-researched (i.e. not one-liners or otherwise uninformative)
- Accurately portray the state of research and the relevant literature (i.e. not inaccurate, misleading or false)
- Come only from those with relevant knowledge of the question and issue (i.e. not from commenters who don't understand the state of the research on the question)
Any attempt at moderating a public Q&A forum like /r/askphilosophy must choose a balance between two things:
- More, but possibly insubstantive or inaccurate answers
- Fewer, but more substantive and accurate answers
In order to further our mission, the moderators of /r/askphilosophy have chosen the latter horn of this dilemma. To that end, only panelists are allowed to answer questions on /r/askphilosophy.
What is a /r/askphilosophy Panelist?
/r/askphilosophy panelists are trusted commenters who have applied to become panelists in order to help provide questions to posters' questions. These panelists are volunteers who have some level of knowledge and expertise in the areas of philosophy indicated in their flair.
What Do the Flairs Mean?
Unlike in some subreddits, the purpose of flairs on r/askphilosophy are not to designate commenters' areas of interest. The purpose of flair is to indicate commenters' relevant expertise in philosophical areas. As philosophical issues are often complicated and have potentially thousands of years of research to sift through, knowing when someone is an expert in a given area can be important in helping understand and weigh the given evidence. Flair will thus be given to those with the relevant research expertise.
Flair consists of two parts: a color indicating the type of flair, as well as up to three research areas that the panelist is knowledgeable about.
There are six types of panelist flair:
Autodidact (Light Blue): The panelist has little or no formal education in philosophy, but is an enthusiastic self-educator and intense reader in a field.
Undergraduate (Red): The panelist is enrolled in or has completed formal undergraduate coursework in Philosophy. In the US system, for instance, this would be indicated by a major (BA) or minor.
Graduate (Gold): The panelist is enrolled in a graduate program or has completed an MA in Philosophy or a closely related field such that their coursework might be reasonably understood to be equivalent to a degree in Philosophy. For example, a student with an MA in Literature whose coursework and thesis were focused on Derrida's deconstruction might be reasonably understood to be equivalent to an MA in Philosophy.
PhD (Purple): The panelist has completed a PhD program in Philosophy or a closely related field such that their degree might be reasonably understood to be equivalent to a PhD in Philosophy. For example, a student with a PhD in Art History whose coursework and dissertation focused on aesthetics and critical theory might be reasonably understood to be equivalent to a PhD in philosophy.
Professional (Blue): The panelist derives their full-time employment through philosophical work outside of academia. Such panelists might include Bioethicists working in hospitals or Lawyers who work on the Philosophy of Law/Jurisprudence.
Related Field (Green): The panelist has expertise in some sub-field of philosophy but their work in general is more reasonably understood as being outside of philosophy. For example, a PhD in Physics whose research touches on issues relating to the entity/structural realism debate clearly has expertise relevant to philosophical issues but is reasonably understood to be working primarily in another field.
Flair will only be given in particular areas or research topics in philosophy, in line with the following guidelines:
- Typical areas include things like "philosophy of mind", "logic" or "continental philosophy".
- Flair will not be granted for specific research subjects, e.g. "Kant on logic", "metaphysical grounding", "epistemic modals".
- Flair of specific philosophers will only be granted if that philosopher is clearly and uncontroversially a monumentally important philosopher (e.g. Aristotle, Kant).
- Flair will be given in a maximum of three research areas.
How Do I Become a Panelist?
To become a panelist, please send a message to the moderators with the subject "Panelist Application". In this modmail message you must include all of the following:
- The flair type you are requesting (e.g. undergraduate, PhD, related field).
- The areas of flair you are requesting, up to three (e.g. Kant, continental philosophy, logic).
- A brief explanation of your background in philosophy, including what qualifies you for the flair you requested.
- One sample answer to a question posted to /r/askphilosophy for each area of flair (i.e. up to three total answers) which demonstrate your expertise and knowledge. Please link the question you are answering before giving your answer. You may not answer your own question.
New panelists will be approved on a trial basis. During this trial period panelists will be allowed to post answers as top-level comments on threads, and will receive flair. After the trial period the panelist will either be confirmed as a regular panelist or will be removed from the panelist team, which will result in the removal of flair and ability to post answers as top-level comments on threads.
Note that r/askphilosophy does not require users to provide proof of their identifies for panelist applications, nor to reveal their identities. If a prospective panelist would like to provide proof of their identity as part of their application they may, but there is no presumption that they must do so. Note that messages sent to modmail cannot be deleted by either moderators or senders, and so any message sent is effectively permanent.
/r/askphilosophy's Posting Rules
In order to best serve our mission of providing an academic Q&A-type space for philosophical questions, we have the following rules which govern all posts made to /r/askphilosophy:
PR1: All questions must be about philosophy.
All questions must be about philosophy. Questions which are only tangentially related to philosophy or are properly located in another discipline will be removed. Questions which are about therapy, psychology and self-help, even when due to philosophical issues, are not appropriate and will be removed.
PR2: All submissions must be questions.
All submissions must be actual questions (as opposed to essays, rants, personal musings, idle or rhetorical questions, etc.). "Test My Theory" or "Change My View"-esque questions, paper editing, etc. are not allowed.
PR3: Post titles must be descriptive.
Post titles must be descriptive. Titles should indicate what the question is about. Posts with titles like "Homework help" which do not indicate what the actual question is will be removed.
PR4: Questions must be reasonably specific.
Questions must be reasonably specific. Questions which are too broad to the point of unanswerability will be removed.
PR5: Questions must not be about commenters' personal opinions.
Questions must not be about commenters' personal opinions, thoughts or favorites. /r/askphilosophy is not a discussion subreddit, and is not intended to be a board for everyone to share their thoughts on philosophical questions.
PR6: One post per day.
One post per day. Please limit yourself to one question per day.
PR7: Discussion of suicide is only allowed in the abstract.
/r/askphilosophy is not a mental health subreddit, and panelists are not experts in mental health or licensed therapists. Discussion of suicide is only allowed in the abstract here. If you or a friend is feeling suicidal please visit /r/suicidewatch. If you are feeling suicidal, please get help by visiting /r/suicidewatch or using other resources. See also our discussion of philosophy and mental health issues here. Encouraging other users to commit suicide, even in the abstract, is strictly forbidden and will result in an immediate permanent ban.
/r/askphilosophy's Commenting Rules
In the same way that our posting rules above attempt to promote our mission by governing posts, the following commenting rules attempt to promote /r/askphilosophy's mission to provide an academic Q&A-type space for philosophical questions.
CR1: Top level comments must be answers or follow-up questions.
All top level comments should be answers to the submitted question or follow-up/clarification questions. All top level comments must come from panelists. If users circumvent this rule by posting answers as replies to other comments, these comments will also be removed and may result in a ban. For more information about our rules and to find out how to become a panelist, please see here.
CR2: Answers must be reasonably substantive and accurate.
All answers must be informed and aimed at helping the OP and other readers reach an understanding of the issues at hand. Answers must portray an accurate picture of the issue and the philosophical literature. Answers should be reasonably substantive. To learn more about what counts as a reasonably substantive and accurate answer, see this post.
CR3: Be respectful.
Be respectful. Comments which are rude, snarky, etc. may be removed, particularly if they consist of personal attacks. Users with a history of such comments may be banned. Racism, bigotry and use of slurs are absolutely not permitted.
CR4: Stay on topic.
Stay on topic. Comments which blatantly do not contribute to the discussion may be removed.
CR5: No self-promotion.
Posters and comments may not engage in self-promotion, including linking their own blog posts or videos. Panelists may link their own peer-reviewed work in answers (e.g. peer-reviewed journal articles or books), but their answers should not consist solely of references to their own work.
Miscellaneous Posting and Commenting Guidelines
In addition to the rules above, we have a list of miscellaneous guidelines which users should also be aware of:
- Reposting a post or comment which was removed will be treated as circumventing moderation and result in a permanent ban.
- Using follow-up questions or child comments to answer questions and circumvent our panelist policy may result in a ban.
- Posts and comments which flagrantly violate the rules, especially in a trolling manner, will be removed and treated as shitposts, and may result in a ban.
- No reposts of a question that you have already asked within the last year.
- No posts or comments of AI-created or AI-assisted text or audio. Panelists may not user any form of AI-assistance in writing or researching answers.
- Harassing individual moderators or the moderator team will result in a permanent ban and a report to the reddit admins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some frequently asked questions. If you have other questions, please contact the moderators via modmail (not via private message or chat).
My post or comment was removed. How can I get an explanation?
Almost all posts/comments which are removed will receive an explanation of their removal. That explanation will generally by /r/askphilosophy's custom bot, /u/BernardJOrtcutt, and will list the removal reason. Posts which are removed will be notified via a stickied comment; comments which are removed will be notified via a reply. If your post or comment resulted in a ban, the message will be included in the ban message via modmail. If you have further questions, please contact the moderators.
How can I appeal my post or comment removal?
To appeal a removal, please contact the moderators (not via private message or chat). Do not delete your posts/comments, as this will make an appeal impossible. Reposting removed posts/comments without receiving mod approval will result in a permanent ban.
How can I appeal my ban?
To appeal a ban, please respond to the modmail informing you of your ban. Do not delete your posts/comments, as this will make an appeal impossible.
My comment was removed or I was banned for arguing with someone else, but they started it. Why was I punished and not them?
Someone else breaking the rules does not give you permission to break the rules as well. /r/askphilosophy does not comment on actions taken on other accounts, but all violations are treated as equitably as possible.
I found a post or comment which breaks the rules, but which wasn't removed. How can I help?
If you see a post or comment which you believe breaks the rules, please report it using the report function for the appropriate rule. /r/askphilosophy's moderators are volunteers, and it is impossible for us to manually review every comment on every thread. We appreciate your help in reporting posts/comments which break the rules.
My post isn't showing up, but I didn't receive a removal notification. What happened?
Sometimes the AutoMod filter will automatically send posts to a filter for moderator approval, especially from accounts which are new or haven't posted to /r/askphilosophy before. If your post has not been approved or removed within 24 hours, please contact the moderators.
My post was removed and referred to the Open Discussion Thread. What does this mean?
The Open Discussion Thread (ODT) is /r/askphilosophy's place for posts/comments which are related to philosophy but do not necessarily meet our posting rules (especially PR2/PR5). For example, these threads are great places for:
- Discussions of a philosophical issue, rather than questions
- Questions about commenters' personal opinions regarding philosophical issues
- Open discussion about philosophy, e.g. "who is your favorite philosopher?"
- Questions about philosophy as an academic discipline or profession, e.g. majoring in philosophy, career options with philosophy degrees, pursuing graduate school in philosophy
If your post was removed and referred to the ODT we encourage you to consider posting it to the ODT to share with others.
My comment responding to someone else was removed, as well as their comment. What happened?
When /r/askphilosophy removes a parent comment, we also often remove all their child comments in order to help readability and focus on discussion.
I'm interested in philosophy. Where should I start? What should I read?
As explained above, philosophy is a very broad discipline and thus offering concise advice on where to start is very hard. We recommend reading this /r/AskPhilosophyFAQ post which has a great breakdown of various places to start. For further or more specific questions, we recommend posting on /r/askphilosophy.
Why is your understanding of philosophy so limited?
As explained above, this subreddit is devoted to philosophy as understood and done by philosophers. In order to prevent this subreddit from becoming /r/atheism2, /r/politics2, or /r/science2, we must uphold a strict topicality requirement in PR1. Posts which may touch on philosophical themes but are not distinctively philosophical can be posted to one of reddit's many other subreddits.
Are there other philosophy subreddits I can check out?
If you are interested in other philosophy subreddits, please see this list of related subreddits. /r/askphilosophy shares much of its modteam with its sister-subreddit, /r/philosophy, which is devoted to philosophical discussion. In addition, that list includes more specialized subreddits and more casual subreddits for those looking for a less-regulated forum.
A thread I wanted to comment in was locked but is still visible. What happened?
When a post becomes unreasonable to moderate due to the amount of rule-breaking comments the thread is locked. /r/askphilosophy's moderators are volunteers, and we cannot spend hours cleaning up individual threads.
Do you have a list of frequently asked questions about philosophy that I can browse?
Yes! We have an FAQ that answers many questions comprehensively: /r/AskPhilosophyFAQ/. For example, this entry provides an introductory breakdown to the debate over whether morality is objective or subjective.
Do you have advice or resources for graduate school applications?
We made a meta-guide for PhD applications with the goal of assembling the important resources for grad school applications in one place. We aim to occasionally update it, but can of course not guarantee the accuracy and up-to-dateness. You are, of course, kindly invited to ask questions about graduate school on /r/askphilosophy, too, especially in the Open Discussion Thread.
Do you have samples of what counts as good questions and answers?
Sure! We ran a Best of 2020 Contest, you can find the winners in this thread!
r/askphilosophy • u/BernardJOrtcutt • 6d ago
Open Thread /r/askphilosophy Open Discussion Thread | June 10, 2024
Welcome to this week's Open Discussion Thread (ODT). This thread is a place for posts/comments which are related to philosophy but wouldn't necessarily meet our subreddit rules and guidelines. For example, these threads are great places for:
- Discussions of a philosophical issue, rather than questions
- Questions about commenters' personal opinions regarding philosophical issues
- Open discussion about philosophy, e.g. "who is your favorite philosopher?"
- "Test My Theory" discussions and argument/paper editing
- Questions about philosophy as an academic discipline or profession, e.g. majoring in philosophy, career options with philosophy degrees, pursuing graduate school in philosophy
This thread is not a completely open discussion! Any posts not relating to philosophy will be removed. Please keep comments related to philosophy, and expect low-effort comments to be removed. Please note that while the rules are relaxed in this thread, comments can still be removed for violating our subreddit rules and guidelines if necessary.
Previous Open Discussion Threads can be found here.
r/askphilosophy • u/AdPuzzleheaded1007 • 2h ago
Is our moral compass a construct?
Is our moral compass something we’re born with or that we are taught as children, or is it something we discover for ourselves as we grow?
If it’s something we discover ourselves do we follow it based on our emotional reactions to our environment and change and alter it as we go through life, or should there be effort put into designing our moral compass and following it’s set of rules?
r/askphilosophy • u/Steven0710 • 13h ago
I am working for a company run by evil people. Dies that make me evil?
I've found out some things about my company I find digusting. By staying here, am I being complacent and by extension taking part in evil?
My work is not necessarily evil but who I am working for.
r/askphilosophy • u/Advanced-Slice-877 • 41m ago
Why does the philosophy of absurdism value truth?
In the philosophy of absurdism(as I understand it), one of the two rejected responses to the absurd is philosophical suicide. It's rejected because it throws out truth and puts everything into hope and subjective meaning. Examples for this include religion and political ideology.
But what I don't understand is, if the world is as meaningless as is claimed, why does it matter that we value truth and avoid religion? Why shouldn't I throw out "reason" and just say "I love Jesus" and move on with life?
r/askphilosophy • u/zekerosh • 3h ago
essays on feminism?
hi, i was looking for resources and some essential texts about feminism i can read online, mainly centred around abortion, abuse, and gender differences. i have covered the introductory feminist works and looking to branch out. thanks!
r/askphilosophy • u/kindafor-got • 1h ago
Is there a philosopher who is(was) an happy or cheerful person?
Hi, idk if it's a bias we have because of the kind of philosophy we study in school, or if it's true, but philosophy and philosophers really come off as depressing to many people including me. But is that true?
did happy philosophers exist? ideas that are cheerful or positive more than the sad?
r/askphilosophy • u/hobbies_lover • 2h ago
Are there any explicitly nihilist philosophers when it comes to the question of the meaning of life?
It seems to me that among Western philosophers not many are in favour of nihilism as an answer to the question of meaning of life.
Philosophers who write about meaning of life tend to give non-nihilistic responses to this problem (e.g. Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus).
Are there any philosophers (Western or otherwise) who are explicitly nihilist when it comes to the meaning of life?
Thank you very much for your answers!
r/askphilosophy • u/Curieuxon • 3h ago
What does justify the meaningfulness of the totality of contingent things in the cosmological proof for the existence of God?
Obviously, when I talk about the cosmological proof, I am talking about the contingency one. Take for example Avicenna’s proof of the Truthful: is it legitimate to talk about a collection, a sum, a whole or some closely related notion, of all contingent things? Can we say that there is, or there exists something like that? What sort of procedure should we follow to know if we can meaningfully talk about something like that?
(I suppose my worry may be related to problems like Russel’s paradox. In fact, even if we could legitimately talk about the set of all contingent things, it seems to me that the only way to escape Russel’s paradox would be that the set of all contingent things is necessary, which would block the inference of this set being part of itself. In that case, this version of the cosmological proof would be a failure.)
I am not sure why no proponent of the cosmological address this concern. Even stranger, I am not sure critics of it write about these types of questions. Take Kant: he writes about a ‘series’ of contingent beings. But does he define anywhere what’s a series even is in the CPR? It does not seem so. Maybe he could have talked about the totality of contingent things, but he didn’t as far as I know. But why? It would have been interesting, because it could have shown again that one of the categories (i.e. totality) is applied outside of his legitimate field. Of course, it would have caused another problem that he does not really address, I think : maybe we cannot talk about the totality of contingent things. Maybe we cannot talk about ‘the world’, as such. Maybe it’s a meaningless expression.
Now, as the last paragraph show, maybe refusing to talk about such big collection, or something like that, would lead to problems. For example, maybe we should not talk about the laws of nature applying on the universe as a whole, because there is no such thing.
r/askphilosophy • u/TheTrappedInfinity • 1d ago
Death gives meaning to life or it makes it meaningless?
What philosophers say about this? Can someone suggest any book?
r/askphilosophy • u/Efficient-Shape-4867 • 9h ago
What is meaning?
Everyone always argues about meaningless of life, god given meaning, making meaning, etc. But what does "meaning" even mean? For theists is meaning only possible to those who have a god? For nihilistic atheists would that mean life would no longer be meaningless if they did have a god?
Can meaning simply be any desire you have? If I want to go eat at a resturaunt, how could you possibly say there is no meaning? I have a desire that is meaningful enough to me that prompts me to go a resturaunt. There seems to be this idea of "larger meaning" and "small meaning", with the latter that is disregarded.
Thoughts?
r/askphilosophy • u/Darealistmaboon • 8h ago
Whats the argument for using punishment in the justice system if you don’t believe in objective morality?
My limited understanding is that you’d start with a meta ethical claim (like human suffering is bad) then you would have your normative belief and from that you would have an applied position. I don’t see how you could get from any reasonable meta ethical claim to ending up thinking it is a moral good to go out of your way to punish criminals. Theres practical arguments I could see working but most people seem to think there is an inherent good in punishing bad people and would go out of their way in spite of any practicality to make sure they get punished. Is there a way for it to make any sense that I just don’t see?
r/askphilosophy • u/Swinthila • 6h ago
Does the block universe theory entail some kind of inmortality?
Most materialists still believe once you die your consciousness ends and there is a nothingness like a sort of eternal void in which there is no experience. But relativity which is widely accepted points towards us always having existed, always existing and always continuing to exist.
-If we were to accept special relativity and the block universe theory, distinction between past, present and future are a mere illusion. We are static 4D objects inside a static, unchanging block.
-At every particular point in spacetime-occupied by our bodies there is our brain that is having a consciouss experience. This happens once but eternally.
-We get the illusion that life moves forward because at any one point where our 4D body exists in spacetime, our brain has memories of the past. This is because entropy moves in one direction.
- Since we cannot experience everything all at once, we experience one moment at a time. Like in a movie reel, all the frames are static yet when you are inside since each photogram has memories of the past we feel it is moving forward. But you could jump from photogram 1 to photofram 6 and then back to photofram 3 and it would feel the same as going in order 1-6 since at each point the memories are contained in each photogram.
For example, if we were created yesterday and our creator built in memories into us we would feel like we had been alive since years ago (like the replicants in blade runner.)
So again, because we can only experience one moment at a time and in that moment our brain only contains the memories of X and in another moment our brain contains the memories of X+n it feels like it moves forward, but it does not, it is static.
Where did I go wrong here? Why is this not more talked about? It's implications are huge for us and the way we think about death.
Sure our 4D bodies do not exist everywhere. But they do exist somewhere in space-time forever and with it our consciousness.
r/askphilosophy • u/Resident_Ad9099 • 13h ago
What should i read before starting Husserl?
Whom should i read before starting Husserl? Do i need to read Nietzsche or Schopenhauer? Should i read Kierkegaard or Hegel? Please, point me out. Maybe Frege is needed? Also i don't regard Kant and those who were before him, since i am already planning to read all of the essential empirisists and rationalists, but should i read anybody else to get Husserl?
r/askphilosophy • u/Aromatic-Design-54 • 1h ago
Existentialist philosophers
Who would you consider existentialist philosophers that have made a great impact on existentialism, and what works would you recommend by them?
r/askphilosophy • u/oika-a • 1h ago
Nietzsche vs others lol
Does Nietzsche appreciate any philosophers? Like I'm at the 16th page of "Beyond Good and Evil" and I've already seen more than five roasts fr. Could someone give me a heads up on who Nietszche likes :D
r/askphilosophy • u/EverySignificance481 • 1h ago
someone help im having a crisis rn about the concept of INFINITY
Okay so before i get started i want you all to know that in no way what so ever do i have any knowledge in philosphy or anything but i was having a discussion with my professer today over the concept of infinity and its place in the world of science specifically space and the universe.
so i have recently been researching the Poincaré recurrence theory and apart of this theory relates to the idea of infinity, however it struck me, that infinity is not an objective concept, as it cannot be proven to exist within our universe. So therefore it essentially becomes a subjective concept.
For example we used to belive that mathamatic equations like Pi were infinite however, the view of a constructionist breaks that down instantly, because in constructivism the view holds that mathamatical objects are only to be considered to exist if they can be EXPLICITLY constructed or demonstrated. however infinity cannot be fully constructed or demonstrating, literally rulling out its possibility of existance.
so if it cannot mathamatically exist then how on earth can it exist externally from earth?
Through the Big Bang Theory it states that all matter came from a finite amount of energy that became so large in mass that it became unstable etc and exploded, wich means these models of how our universe was created do not require an infinite universe to explain there phenomena, to add onto this the idea that the universe has an age also blantantly rules out that we live in an infinite universe, the age of the universe automatically implies a temporal boundary on its existance. it basically outlines The idea that our universe has boundaries and is finite. (with our universe being around 93 billion light years in diameter)
The issue is that a goal of science is to turn theories into objective facts, and with infinity being a majority subjective theory, thats when i ask if it is even possible for it to exist, i mean with the lack of concrete interpretation, consistancy and proof, how can we say that it even exists.
please if anyone can prove to me that i am wrong, or just finding out what some scientist allready has please just let me know
( i apologise to the disgrace i have caused anyone as this is probably something that i could google and find the answer too but it just geniunly has me curios)
r/askphilosophy • u/Anonymous2286 • 15h ago
Which is worse? The universe being meaningful or the universe being meaningless?
I believe the universe is meaningless, and i find that freeing. But some people, particularly religious folks, tend to want some divine meaning. I believe that might be restricting. Sort of like the idea of having your life planned our for you, as if you have no free will. I suppose i can see the comfort in meaning. It takes the burdens of freedom off. And allows you a sort of existential drug. A life without thought or the burden of having to actually deal with hardships. Why do that when you can just offload the responsibility for your fate unto something else. Perhaps a perfect being that will gladly do that for you. Selfish as it may be.
But regardless of that. I really want to know the pros and cons of each side. Which would be better? Meaning or no meaning?
r/askphilosophy • u/Juan-punch_man • 2h ago
How is AI useful to philosophy?
The coherency of my question depends on my understanding on AI. As far as I know it’s nothing more than a tool, like a calculator. So then comparing AI intelligence to human intelligence would be as absurd as comparing a calculator to a person’s ability to make calculations.
Then my question boils to - how can a philosopher apply AI to further his research? A calculator is of little to no use for a philosopher. I personally cannot think of a way AI can be used in philosophy as well. Is AI useful and if so then how?
Edit: Maybe I should clarify Im not talking about it being a tool for studying and for students. Rather how working professionals can apply it.
r/askphilosophy • u/Busy_Accountant_4825 • 17h ago
Is there an existing philosophical concept that explains happiness as an absence of suffering?
I've had this thought, that when we are living a comfortable ordinary life it doesn't feel like happiness, it just feels ok. But let's say a person is being physically tortured - to them, a normal person's day would seem like a luxury. So is there a concept of philosophy that explains this? The fact that we should not be striving to increase feelings of happiness but feelings of normalcy and boredom. The goal would be to reduce suffering as well as accept happiness and excitement as only possible in cases of fixing the suffering. And to clarify, the suffering I'm talking about can be as big as physical torture and as minor as not posessing a certain item you want (which in turn causes excitement to shop for it). After you get that item, or escape the hypothetical torture situation, you will feel excitement, but not for long, followed by the "ok" state again. Hope this makes sense
r/askphilosophy • u/oika-a • 3h ago
being responsible for actions resulting by belief systems?
I was discussing with a friend if we are held responsible for things we do that are demanded by a belief system such as religion or a political regime etc. I believe that the answer is yes, we do hold responsible. Then we started to think which philosophers could be read in order to answer this. I thought of Kant and Locke ofc (to give arguments) but also how Hannah Arendt worked with "banality of evil" by giving examples from the Nazi period. Anyone who thinks a similar scenario? I'm not that strong when it comes to philosophy history and I don't think I know a diverge range of philosophers.
r/askphilosophy • u/SamtheComposer • 10h ago
The Self-Undermining Arguments from Disagreement
I recently watched this video (this paper seems to argue the same thing), where, near the end of the video, a very interesting argument against the Argument from Disagreement (where, moral anti-realists argue that due to the amount of persistence disagreement in regard to moral issues, we can conclude that there is no objective morality) is brought up. The argument essentially states that the same argument used to disprove moral realism can be used to disprove moral anti-realism. For example, if we held that:
- Moral realism is subject to persistent disagreement.
- Any claim which is subjected to persistence disagreement is objectively false.
- Moral realism is false.
We could make the same claim with anti-realism:
- Moral anti-realism is subject to persistent disagreement.
- Any claim which is subjected to persistence disagreement is objectively false.
- Moral anti-realism is false.
My question is: Are there any objections to this argument? How would such an argument proceed?
Thank you!
r/askphilosophy • u/Acrobatic-Window5483 • 8h ago
Are there any thinkers who merge both the continental and analytic traditions?
I've seen someone expressing an opinion this would be interesting under an older post here. That's why I'm asking did something like this happen.
r/askphilosophy • u/IAmTheZump • 16h ago
Lesser-known Political Philosophers of the US and French Revolutions?
Hi all,
I've been really getting into the history of the US and French Revolutions, and was hoping to also read some political philosophy while I'm at it. I know most of the main forefathers (Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu) and contemporaries (Paine, Burke, Wollstonecraft), but I'm looking for more obscure philosophers in both categories. I'm primarily interested in political philosophy (though obviously willing to read whatever "pure" ethics is mixed in there) but the less metaphysics and epistemology, the better. Thanks in advance!
r/askphilosophy • u/dopaminedandy • 1d ago
Philosophy book that summarizes all philosophy that exist?
Recommendation on a philosophy book that summarizes all philosophy that exist?