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Debate suggestions

grand_illusion
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Posted 10/15/05 - 06:04 PM: Subject: Debate suggestions	#1
I've looked over the debates and I thought they were interesting but I was wondering if I could suggest another and I'm not sure where I post this. I thought they should be a debate over realities objectivity vs subjectivity or in other words realities indepedence or dependence of the mind. I would like to either moderate it or argue for subjectivity if not that is fine also. Sorry mods if this is the wrong place to suggest debates. So what do you mods think?
"Let us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and annihilates only because it is the unsearchable and eternally creative source of all."

Paul
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Posted 10/15/05 - 07:15 PM:	#2
Read http://forums.philosophyforums.com/thread/15138

grand_illusion
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Posted 10/18/05 - 08:23 PM:	#3
Thanks for that, I knew if I screwed up someone would move the post and give me a bunch of rules. So who would anyone be interested in this sort of debate? Who wants to argue what side?
"Let us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and annihilates only because it is the unsearchable and eternally creative source of all."

Lodestone
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Posted 12/05/05 - 01:55 AM:	#4
Come up with a title and I'll tell you if I'm interested :-)
Where once my wit, perchance, hath shone, In aid of others let me shine; And when, alas! our brains are gone, What nobler substitute than wine?

AKG
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Posted 12/17/05 - 04:25 PM:	#5
Well if you're going to debate, "does reality exist independently from the mind?" you'd have to be clear about what exactly you mean by "reality," "exist independently," and "the mind." "Reality" sometimes refers to all that exists, sometimes it refers specifically to physical reality and/or physical objects. Sometimes, something will be said to have "dependent existence" if it cannot continue to exist without something else. Sometimes, something is said to have "dependent existence" if it cannot come into existence without something else (but perhaps afterwards, it can continue to exist without that other thing, like a child to a parent). Sometimes, "dependent existence" means that the behaviour of the thing is entirely contingent on/controlled by something else, for example maybe perceptions only exist when there is a mind to perceive them, but this doesn't mean that the content of perception is dependent on the mind. By "mind," you might mean, "that which perceives," or "that which thinks/that which is conscious/sentient, etc." or something else. Perhaps these definitions should be cleared up first, or perhaps deciding on the appropriate definitions will be the heart of the debate. Or maybe some of these defintions should be decided first, and the rest can be debated. If you guys can agree to certain definitions and agree to debate the rest, then if it's good with the other mods, we can set up a debate.
"The only reason we die... is because we accept it as an inevitability." -- Stewie "To enslave nuance to dogma is folly." -- Lord Hillyer

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