We've now apparently agreed that there is some point where it is no longer useful to spend time looking at a question.
I have never argued from the premise that all questions should be kept open forever.
It might be interesting to note at this point that the idea of detatchable , Cartesian souls actually has been abandoned in philosophy.
We've now apparently agreed that there is some point where it is no longer useful to spend time looking at a question.
I have never argued from the premise that all questions should be kept open forever.
That seemed not the case earlier, but I'm happy to conclude that was a misinterpretation on my part. So, are you going to respond to the other issues raised?
It might be interesting to note at this point that the idea of detatchable , Cartesian souls actually has been abandoned in philosophy.
"Abandoned?" Really? What evidence do you have f...
Why Talk to Philosophers? Part I. by philosopher of science Wayne Myrvold.
See also Sean Carroll's own blog entry, Physicists Should Stop Saying Silly Things about Philosophy.
Sean classifies the disparaging comments physicists make about philosophy as follows: "Roughly speaking, physicists tend to have three different kinds of lazy critiques of philosophy: one that is totally dopey, one that is frustratingly annoying, and one that is deeply depressing". Specifically:
He counters each argument presented.
Personally, I am underwhelmed, since he does not address the point of view that philosophy is great at asking interesting questions but lousy at answering them. Typically, an interesting answer to a philosophical question requires first recasting it in a falsifiable form, so that is becomes a natural science question, be it physics, cognitive sciences, AI research or something else. This is locally known as hacking away at the edges. Philosophical questions don't have philosophical answers.