All Questions
22,435
questions
226
votes
27
answers
49k
views
Was mathematics invented or discovered?
What would it mean to say that mathematics was invented and how would this be different from saying mathematics was discovered?
Is this even a serious philosophical question, or just a meaningless, ...
- 2,844
175
votes
18
answers
50k
views
Is 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' a good argument?
I'm hearing the argument X doesn't do Y, people do Y in quite a few guises. For instance, in its original form:
Guns don't kill people; people kill people.
Presumably, therefore, guns are OK.
Cars ...
- 2,952
123
votes
22
answers
24k
views
Why don't fair coin tosses add up? Is the gambler's fallacy really valid?
I have always been perplexed by a seeming paradox in probability that I'm sure has some simple, well-known explanation
We say that a "fair coin" has "no memory."
At each toss, the ...
- 13.6k
117
votes
13
answers
18k
views
Am I morally obligated to pursue a career in medicine?
I am a high school student who has no formal training in philosophy, so I apologize if this question seems naïve. However, it is one that I am currently facing in a life decision, and I would like a ...
- 1,277
111
votes
26
answers
52k
views
How does one know one is not dreaming?
How could one logically demonstrate to someone skeptical that one is "really" there, and awake, and not just dreaming about the entire world around them?
Which philosophers or philosophies ...
- 1,277
98
votes
12
answers
18k
views
Is Gödel's incompleteness theorem a cheap trick?
I found a throwaway critique of Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorem in an essay about deconstruction, “How to Deconstruct Anything” by Chip Morningstar. In the context of the article, the critique of ...
- 7,325
97
votes
31
answers
11k
views
What would it take in a book to convince a rational person that it had been written by or directly inspired by a god?
Many of the world's religions are based on a book or text that adherents claim to have been written by or directly inspired by a god, perhaps omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent.
My question is ...
- 3,866
91
votes
22
answers
56k
views
Could 'cogito ergo sum' possibly be false?
I've heard it postulated by some people that "we can't truly know anything". While that does seem to apply to the vast majority of things, I can't see how 'cogito ergo sum' can possibly be false.
...
- 2,039
84
votes
14
answers
23k
views
Is there such a thing as absolute proof?
Can you prove, absolutely and 100%, that something is true, in the field of philosophy? It always seems you can go a layer down, and find another question, almost endlessly.
Reference
Development of ...
- 966
80
votes
16
answers
21k
views
Is it immoral to download music illegally?
I should first point out that the title is more to capture a common occurrence of the broader idea I want to address in this question. It is also somewhat incorrect in that—at least in the US—I'm not ...
- 11.7k
75
votes
11
answers
10k
views
How can an uneducated but rational person differentiate between science and religion? [closed]
I recently found myself unable to respond to the statement "But the big bang theory is just another creation myth!" during a science vs. religion argument. I found it very difficult to explain the ...
- 27.5k
71
votes
28
answers
13k
views
Why is there something instead of nothing?
The "something" means the whole Universe (known and unknown). It would include all the multiverses and such. It could be represented as the “reality” version of the set of all sets, which is ...
- 1,084
70
votes
7
answers
20k
views
What is the fallacy “X is bad, Y is worse, therefore X is not bad” called?
I have often heard this type of argument:
You are criticizing X using well-researched facts and arguments.
Your interlocutor states that Y is much worse, with equally well-researched facts and ...
67
votes
12
answers
17k
views
Does human life have innate value over that of other animals?
Does human life have innate value over that of other animals? If so, why?
And is it wrong to murder another human, but morally permissible to hunt or fish?
- 679
66
votes
26
answers
25k
views
Why is faith seen as a sign of weakness, instead of an unexplored land/opportunity?
Hope this is the right place to put this question!
I am a person of faith (more specific, a Christian) and most of the time people consider me somehow inferior for my belief. I am not antisocial, not ...
- 893