Hi Steve, ... I'm puzzled. I thought that what the skeptics had against dogmatists, was that the dogmatists believed that certain things were true. They argued...
I wish to correct what I said to this: "My belief that the sun will rise tomorrow, or that the other driver will obey the traffic signal, is not by rational...
There's no denying it. Ethical systems are value-based; Stoicism values certain behaviours. Ergo, Stoicism represents a value-based ethical system. Yet what...
As Alice said, “Curiouser and curiouser”. First, I want to thank Steve, Grant and Keith for responding in a logical rather than an emotional manner. As...
Amos, Thanks for the kind sentiment. It is funny though, I hold our 'experts' in such high regard (if you are referring to Grant, Keith and Jan). I own the...
Hi Steve, ... Yes, rational conviction is the case where the agent believes that something is true, because he has sufficient reasons to do so; but he (a...
Kevin: I don't think that being a Stoic or a Christian or a Buddhist is a matter of expertise, as being, say, a physicist or a cognitive scientist are. They...
I believe that there is something like a moral strength, or strength of will that is somethig your are born with. I wish I had more, but the stoics thought...
Steve: Pragmatists are not so much concerned with the "value of knowledge", but with whether a theory "works", that is, whether a theory or idea allows us...
Steve before: 1. Believing things are provisionally true (with good justification). 2. Believing things are certainly true (with good justification). Dave...
... I think that I have supplied the additional option to the false dichotomy. The agent believes that something is true neither certainly or provisionally. ...
Dave writes: __________________ But use of the scientific method is not appropriate or productive for the discovery of truth in matters such as ethics. The...
Hi Steve, ... So have you used this method and assigned numbers for the probability of the truth of the fundamental beliefs of Stoicism? If you haven't, can...
Dave writes: __________________ So have you used this method and assigned numbers for the probability of the truth of the fundamental beliefs of Stoicism? If...
Steve, it seems to me you arguing against stubbornness not belief. I can't admit that I believe something, on some level,and not think it is true, on the...
Hi Steve, So, according to your view, the only way to rationally believe something is to believe _only_ that it is probably true. I can't just believe that...
Kevin, I think you are close to it. One aspect of attachment to belief would manifest as stubbornness. As you imply I think this plays havoc with our own ...
Kevin: It's possible for me to believe something and to suspect that I am deceiving myself, out of wishful thinking. For example, I believe that X has a...
You'll have to forgive me; Yahoo is not cooperating with mail delivery. So I may get the sequence of responses out of order. Dave writes: __________________ ...
Sorry I didn't get this delivered either Kevin. You are describing radical skepticism which I am not advocating. Moderate skepticism is something like 'believe...
Steve: Actually, it's a very interesting idea that normative truth is certain, but it isn't certain for all time. Why couldn't that be the case? Best,...
Hi Steve, ... In the normative world why would you believe something like Grant's fundamental maxims are true and yet not believe it follows that they will be...
Yes it is and I can't say I have a firm opinion on this. Consider that most of the time when someone says something is "good" it is contextually related. I...
Dave writes: __________________ So, it's irrational for Grant to believe his fundamental maxims and to believe that they will be true for all time? ...
Kevin: Here's an example. I live with a 9-year old, who has what is called a defiant syndrome. This morning he started screaming at his mother, when she...
Introduction Happy new year all! I've been away with limited access for a while, but I see in this <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stoics/message/30250>; comment...
... I assume, like you seem to, that Grant not only believes his maxims to be true, but he also believes that they will be true for all time. Doesn't that...
