Questions tagged [theory]
The theory tag has no summary.
71 questions
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Is it philosophically coherent to treat memetic propagation as part of cognitive architecture rather than merely cultural transmission?
Memetics is often described as a theory of cultural replication independent of individual consciousness. However, if conscious experience is understood as structured information processing (as in ...
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What are the main metaphysical theories?
If metaphysics is meant as a rational investigation of (as Aristotle put it) being qua being, what are to date the main, most important, most achieved, most detailed, most popular, or most interesting ...
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Why do complex questions lead to simple elegant answers?
The most innovative and intelligent humans like Pythagoras, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, et cetera, are known for devoting all their life to discover a particular mystery encrypted in nature. But it ...
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If we could somehow take all the experiences/memories of every human who ever lived and merged them, could we make an objective qualia map? [closed]
This is really reaching but imagine you could take all the conscious memories and experiences of all humans starting from Cro-Magnan and Neanderthal minds and then every modern human up until now and ...
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"Simulation Theory Debunked" - is this rebuttal article covertly trying to popularize the theory?
"Bostrom explains that his argument is different than any other
skeptical threat in the history of philosophy because instead of
starting from a position of universal doubt and saying “prove that ...
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Is it possible that ethics is beyond language, and if so what would the implications be?
In physics, the behaviour of subatomic particles, quantum states and the like are described mathematically. My understanding is that it's accepted that linguistic models simply aren't precise enough.
...
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How can a theory be discarded if the Duhem–Quine thesis suggests it can’t be falsified?
From my understanding of the Duhem-Quine thesis, it seems that theories can’t be refuted Popper-style. But then how can one make sure that some theory can’t work as an explanation for a phenomenon?
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What is the relationship between the correspondence theory of truth (Aristotle) and canon? [closed]
Does the correspondence theory of truth ("truth is that which comports with objective reality") presuppose a notion of canon?
Are there correspondence theories of truth that do not require a ...
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Resolving a logical contradiction in Meadows' definifion of Systems (Thinking in Systems)
Early in the book, Meadows makes a clear assertion about the presence of feedback loops in systems:
I start with the basics: the definition of a system and a dissection of its parts (in a ...
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Are there working models or theories of the non-physical that are pragmatically and empirically useful?
I'm prompted by Syed's question How do dualists define the non physical?. I also found a very similar question by Yechiam Weiss: What is the definition of physical? Is that definition clear enough to ...
user92624
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Which philosopher developed the theoretical foundation of physicalism?
Many contemporary philosophers claim to be ‘physicalists’; many of
these philosophers take themselves to be heirs to Greek atomism and
seventeenth century materialism. Many other contemporary ...
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How did Popper combine his fallibilism with the idea that theories don’t have probabilities?
According to this accepted answer (unless it is simply incorrect),
For Popper, either a theory reflects 'reality' (scare quotes to note how ill-defined that word is), or it does not. There is no ...
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Is falsifiability a wrong standard for deciding if a theory is "scientific"?
This question stems from a comment by @Conifold:
"Falsifiability" is a wrong standard that is no longer used (if it ever was) because any theory can be "saved" by suitable ...
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Could Information Density be the Universal Framework We’re Missing in Physics? [closed]
I’ve been developing a theoretical framework suggesting that information density might be a fundamental principle underlying everything from quantum mechanics to consciousness. Here’s the core idea:
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When choosing between competing metaphysical theories to determine which best explains the data, how can we first decide what qualifies as "the data"?
To motivate this question, let’s consider some radically different metaphysical theories:
Theory 1: Physicalism, formalized through variations of the Standard Model and General Relativity, along with ...
user80226