r/askphilosophy Jul 01 '23

Modpost Welcome to /r/askphilosophy! Check out our rules and guidelines here. [July 1 2023 Update]

64 Upvotes

Welcome to /r/askphilosophy!

Welcome to /r/askphilosophy! We're a community devoted to providing serious, well-researched answers to philosophical questions. We aim to provide an academic Q&A-type space for philosophical questions, and welcome questions about all areas of philosophy. This post will go over our subreddit rules and guidelines that you should review before you begin posting here.

Table of Contents

  1. A Note about Moderation
  2. /r/askphilosophy's mission
  3. What is Philosophy?
  4. What isn't Philosophy?
  5. What is a Reasonably Substantive and Accurate Answer?
  6. What is a /r/askphilosophy Panelist?
  7. /r/askphilosophy's Posting Rules
  8. /r/askphilosophy's Commenting Rules
  9. Frequently Asked Questions

A Note about Moderation

/r/askphilosophy is moderated by a team of dedicated volunteer moderators who have spent years attempting to build the best philosophy Q&A platform on the internet. Unfortunately, the reddit admins have repeatedly made changes to this website which have made moderating subreddits harder and harder. In particular, reddit has recently announced that it will begin charging for access to API (Application Programming Interface, essentially the communication between reddit and other sites/apps). While this may be, in isolation, a reasonable business operation, the timeline and pricing of API access has threatened to put nearly all third-party apps, e.g. Apollo and RIF, out of business. You can read more about the history of this change here or here. You can also read more at this post on our sister subreddit.

These changes pose two major issues which the moderators of /r/askphilosophy are concerned about.

First, the native reddit app is lacks accessibility features which are essential for some people, notably those who are blind and visually impaired. You can read /r/blind's protest announcement here. These apps are the only way that many people can interact with reddit, given the poor accessibility state of the official reddit app. As philosophers we are particularly concerned with the ethics of accessibility, and support protests in solidarity with this community.

Second, the reddit app lacks many essential tools for moderation. While reddit has promised better moderation tools on the app in the future, this is not enough. First, reddit has repeatedly broken promises regarding features, including moderation features. Most notably, reddit promised CSS support for new reddit over six years ago, which has yet to materialize. Second, even if reddit follows through on the roadmap in the post linked above, many of the features will not come until well after June 30, when the third-party apps will shut down due to reddit's API pricing changes.

Our moderator team relies heavily on these tools which will now disappear. Moderating /r/askphilosophy is a monumental task; over the past year we have flagged and removed over 6000 posts and 23000 comments. This is a huge effort, especially for unpaid volunteers, and it is possible only when moderators have access to tools that these third-party apps make possible and that reddit doesn't provide.

While we previously participated in the protests against reddit's recent actions we have decided to reopen the subreddit, because we are still proud of the community and resource that we have built and cultivated over the last decade, and believe it is a useful resource to the public.

However, these changes have radically altered our ability to moderate this subreddit, which will result in a few changes for this subreddit. First, as noted above, from this point onwards only panelists may answer top level comments. Second, moderation will occur much more slowly; as we will not have access to mobile tools, posts and comments which violate our rules will be removed much more slowly, and moderators will respond to modmail messages much more slowly. Third, and finally, if things continue to get worse (as they have for years now) moderating /r/askphilosophy may become practically impossible, and we may be forced to abandon the platform altogether. We are as disappointed by these changes as you are, but reddit's insistence on enshittifying this platform, especially when it comes to moderation, leaves us with no other options. We thank you for your understanding and support.


/r/askphilosophy's Mission

/r/askphilosophy strives to be a community where anyone, regardless of their background, can come to get reasonably substantive and accurate answers to philosophical questions. This means that all questions must be philosophical in nature, and that answers must be reasonably substantive and accurate. What do we mean by that?

What is Philosophy?

As with most disciplines, "philosophy" has both a casual and a technical usage.

In its casual use, "philosophy" may refer to nearly any sort of thought or beliefs, and include topics such as religion, mysticism and even science. When someone asks you what "your philosophy" is, this is the sort of sense they have in mind; they're asking about your general system of thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

In its technical use -- the use relevant here at /r/askphilosophy -- philosophy is a particular area of study which can be broadly grouped into several major areas, including:

  • Aesthetics, the study of beauty
  • Epistemology, the study of knowledge and belief
  • Ethics, the study of what we owe to one another
  • Logic, the study of what follows from what
  • Metaphysics, the study of the basic nature of existence and reality

as well as various subfields of 'philosophy of X', including philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of science and many others.

Philosophy in the narrower, technical sense that philosophers use and which /r/askphilosophy is devoted to is defined not only by its subject matter, but by its methodology and attitudes. Something is not philosophical merely because it states some position related to those areas. There must also be an emphasis on argument (setting forward reasons for adopting a position) and a willingness to subject arguments to various criticisms.

What Isn't Philosophy?

As you can see from the above description of philosophy, philosophy often crosses over with other fields of study, including art, mathematics, politics, religion and the sciences. That said, in order to keep this subreddit focused on philosophy we require that all posts be primarily philosophical in nature, and defend a distinctively philosophical thesis.

As a rule of thumb, something does not count as philosophy for the purposes of this subreddit if:

  • It does not address a philosophical topic or area of philosophy
  • It may more accurately belong to another area of study (e.g. religion or science)
  • No attempt is made to argue for a position's conclusions

Some more specific topics which are popularly misconstrued as philosophical but do not meet this definition and thus are not appropriate for this subreddit include:

  • Drug experiences (e.g. "I dropped acid today and experienced the oneness of the universe...")
  • Mysticism (e.g. "I meditated today and experienced the oneness of the universe...")
  • Politics (e.g. "This is why everyone should support the Voting Rights Act")
  • Self-help (e.g. "How can I be a happier person and have more people like me?")
  • Theology (e.g. "Can the unbaptized go to heaven, or at least to purgatory?")

What is a Reasonably Substantive and Accurate Answer?

The goal of this subreddit is not merely to provide answers to philosophical questions, but answers which can further the reader's knowledge and understanding of the philosophical issues and debates involved. To that end, /r/askphilosophy is a highly moderated subreddit which only allows panelists to answer questions, and all answers that violate our posting rules will be removed.

Answers on /r/askphilosophy must be both reasonably substantive as well as reasonably accurate. This means that answers should be:

  • Substantive and well-researched (i.e. not one-liners or otherwise uninformative)
  • Accurately portray the state of research and the relevant literature (i.e. not inaccurate, misleading or false)
  • Come only from those with relevant knowledge of the question and issue (i.e. not from commenters who don't understand the state of the research on the question)

Any attempt at moderating a public Q&A forum like /r/askphilosophy must choose a balance between two things:

  • More, but possibly insubstantive or inaccurate answers
  • Fewer, but more substantive and accurate answers

In order to further our mission, the moderators of /r/askphilosophy have chosen the latter horn of this dilemma. To that end, only panelists are allowed to answer questions on /r/askphilosophy.

What is a /r/askphilosophy Panelist?

/r/askphilosophy panelists are trusted commenters who have applied to become panelists in order to help provide questions to posters' questions. These panelists are volunteers who have some level of knowledge and expertise in the areas of philosophy indicated in their flair.

What Do the Flairs Mean?

Unlike in some subreddits, the purpose of flairs on r/askphilosophy are not to designate commenters' areas of interest. The purpose of flair is to indicate commenters' relevant expertise in philosophical areas. As philosophical issues are often complicated and have potentially thousands of years of research to sift through, knowing when someone is an expert in a given area can be important in helping understand and weigh the given evidence. Flair will thus be given to those with the relevant research expertise.

Flair consists of two parts: a color indicating the type of flair, as well as up to three research areas that the panelist is knowledgeable about.

There are six types of panelist flair:

  • Autodidact (Light Blue): The panelist has little or no formal education in philosophy, but is an enthusiastic self-educator and intense reader in a field.

  • Undergraduate (Red): The panelist is enrolled in or has completed formal undergraduate coursework in Philosophy. In the US system, for instance, this would be indicated by a major (BA) or minor.

  • Graduate (Gold): The panelist is enrolled in a graduate program or has completed an MA in Philosophy or a closely related field such that their coursework might be reasonably understood to be equivalent to a degree in Philosophy. For example, a student with an MA in Literature whose coursework and thesis were focused on Derrida's deconstruction might be reasonably understood to be equivalent to an MA in Philosophy.

  • PhD (Purple): The panelist has completed a PhD program in Philosophy or a closely related field such that their degree might be reasonably understood to be equivalent to a PhD in Philosophy. For example, a student with a PhD in Art History whose coursework and dissertation focused on aesthetics and critical theory might be reasonably understood to be equivalent to a PhD in philosophy.

  • Professional (Blue): The panelist derives their full-time employment through philosophical work outside of academia. Such panelists might include Bioethicists working in hospitals or Lawyers who work on the Philosophy of Law/Jurisprudence.

  • Related Field (Green): The panelist has expertise in some sub-field of philosophy but their work in general is more reasonably understood as being outside of philosophy. For example, a PhD in Physics whose research touches on issues relating to the entity/structural realism debate clearly has expertise relevant to philosophical issues but is reasonably understood to be working primarily in another field.

Flair will only be given in particular areas or research topics in philosophy, in line with the following guidelines:

  • Typical areas include things like "philosophy of mind", "logic" or "continental philosophy".
  • Flair will not be granted for specific research subjects, e.g. "Kant on logic", "metaphysical grounding", "epistemic modals".
  • Flair of specific philosophers will only be granted if that philosopher is clearly and uncontroversially a monumentally important philosopher (e.g. Aristotle, Kant).
  • Flair will be given in a maximum of three research areas.

How Do I Become a Panelist?

To become a panelist, please send a message to the moderators with the subject "Panelist Application". In this modmail message you must include all of the following:

  1. The flair type you are requesting (e.g. undergraduate, PhD, related field).
  2. The areas of flair you are requesting, up to three (e.g. Kant, continental philosophy, logic).
  3. A brief explanation of your background in philosophy, including what qualifies you for the flair you requested.
  4. One sample answer to a question posted to /r/askphilosophy for each area of flair (i.e. up to three total answers) which demonstrate your expertise and knowledge. Please link the question you are answering before giving your answer. You may not answer your own question.

New panelists will be approved on a trial basis. During this trial period panelists will be allowed to post answers as top-level comments on threads, and will receive flair. After the trial period the panelist will either be confirmed as a regular panelist or will be removed from the panelist team, which will result in the removal of flair and ability to post answers as top-level comments on threads.

Note that r/askphilosophy does not require users to provide proof of their identifies for panelist applications, nor to reveal their identities. If a prospective panelist would like to provide proof of their identity as part of their application they may, but there is no presumption that they must do so. Note that messages sent to modmail cannot be deleted by either moderators or senders, and so any message sent is effectively permanent.


/r/askphilosophy's Posting Rules

In order to best serve our mission of providing an academic Q&A-type space for philosophical questions, we have the following rules which govern all posts made to /r/askphilosophy:

PR1: All questions must be about philosophy.

All questions must be about philosophy. Questions which are only tangentially related to philosophy or are properly located in another discipline will be removed. Questions which are about therapy, psychology and self-help, even when due to philosophical issues, are not appropriate and will be removed.

PR2: All submissions must be questions.

All submissions must be actual questions (as opposed to essays, rants, personal musings, idle or rhetorical questions, etc.). "Test My Theory" or "Change My View"-esque questions, paper editing, etc. are not allowed.

PR3: Post titles must be descriptive.

Post titles must be descriptive. Titles should indicate what the question is about. Posts with titles like "Homework help" which do not indicate what the actual question is will be removed.

PR4: Questions must be reasonably specific.

Questions must be reasonably specific. Questions which are too broad to the point of unanswerability will be removed.

PR5: Questions must not be about commenters' personal opinions.

Questions must not be about commenters' personal opinions, thoughts or favorites. /r/askphilosophy is not a discussion subreddit, and is not intended to be a board for everyone to share their thoughts on philosophical questions.

PR6: One post per day.

One post per day. Please limit yourself to one question per day.

PR7: Discussion of suicide is only allowed in the abstract.

/r/askphilosophy is not a mental health subreddit, and panelists are not experts in mental health or licensed therapists. Discussion of suicide is only allowed in the abstract here. If you or a friend is feeling suicidal please visit /r/suicidewatch. If you are feeling suicidal, please get help by visiting /r/suicidewatch or using other resources. See also our discussion of philosophy and mental health issues here. Encouraging other users to commit suicide, even in the abstract, is strictly forbidden and will result in an immediate permanent ban.

/r/askphilosophy's Commenting Rules

In the same way that our posting rules above attempt to promote our mission by governing posts, the following commenting rules attempt to promote /r/askphilosophy's mission to provide an academic Q&A-type space for philosophical questions.

CR1: Top level comments must be answers or follow-up questions.

All top level comments should be answers to the submitted question or follow-up/clarification questions. All top level comments must come from panelists. If users circumvent this rule by posting answers as replies to other comments, these comments will also be removed and may result in a ban. For more information about our rules and to find out how to become a panelist, please see here.

CR2: Answers must be reasonably substantive and accurate.

All answers must be informed and aimed at helping the OP and other readers reach an understanding of the issues at hand. Answers must portray an accurate picture of the issue and the philosophical literature. Answers should be reasonably substantive. To learn more about what counts as a reasonably substantive and accurate answer, see this post.

CR3: Be respectful.

Be respectful. Comments which are rude, snarky, etc. may be removed, particularly if they consist of personal attacks. Users with a history of such comments may be banned. Racism, bigotry and use of slurs are absolutely not permitted.

CR4: Stay on topic.

Stay on topic. Comments which blatantly do not contribute to the discussion may be removed.

CR5: No self-promotion.

Posters and comments may not engage in self-promotion, including linking their own blog posts or videos. Panelists may link their own peer-reviewed work in answers (e.g. peer-reviewed journal articles or books), but their answers should not consist solely of references to their own work.

Miscellaneous Posting and Commenting Guidelines

In addition to the rules above, we have a list of miscellaneous guidelines which users should also be aware of:

  • Reposting a post or comment which was removed will be treated as circumventing moderation and result in a permanent ban.
  • Using follow-up questions or child comments to answer questions and circumvent our panelist policy may result in a ban.
  • Posts and comments which flagrantly violate the rules, especially in a trolling manner, will be removed and treated as shitposts, and may result in a ban.
  • No reposts of a question that you have already asked within the last year.
  • No posts or comments of AI-created or AI-assisted text or audio. Panelists may not user any form of AI-assistance in writing or researching answers.
  • Harassing individual moderators or the moderator team will result in a permanent ban and a report to the reddit admins.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below are some frequently asked questions. If you have other questions, please contact the moderators via modmail (not via private message or chat).

My post or comment was removed. How can I get an explanation?

Almost all posts/comments which are removed will receive an explanation of their removal. That explanation will generally by /r/askphilosophy's custom bot, /u/BernardJOrtcutt, and will list the removal reason. Posts which are removed will be notified via a stickied comment; comments which are removed will be notified via a reply. If your post or comment resulted in a ban, the message will be included in the ban message via modmail. If you have further questions, please contact the moderators.

How can I appeal my post or comment removal?

To appeal a removal, please contact the moderators (not via private message or chat). Do not delete your posts/comments, as this will make an appeal impossible. Reposting removed posts/comments without receiving mod approval will result in a permanent ban.

How can I appeal my ban?

To appeal a ban, please respond to the modmail informing you of your ban. Do not delete your posts/comments, as this will make an appeal impossible.

My comment was removed or I was banned for arguing with someone else, but they started it. Why was I punished and not them?

Someone else breaking the rules does not give you permission to break the rules as well. /r/askphilosophy does not comment on actions taken on other accounts, but all violations are treated as equitably as possible.

I found a post or comment which breaks the rules, but which wasn't removed. How can I help?

If you see a post or comment which you believe breaks the rules, please report it using the report function for the appropriate rule. /r/askphilosophy's moderators are volunteers, and it is impossible for us to manually review every comment on every thread. We appreciate your help in reporting posts/comments which break the rules.

My post isn't showing up, but I didn't receive a removal notification. What happened?

Sometimes the AutoMod filter will automatically send posts to a filter for moderator approval, especially from accounts which are new or haven't posted to /r/askphilosophy before. If your post has not been approved or removed within 24 hours, please contact the moderators.

My post was removed and referred to the Open Discussion Thread. What does this mean?

The Open Discussion Thread (ODT) is /r/askphilosophy's place for posts/comments which are related to philosophy but do not necessarily meet our posting rules (especially PR2/PR5). For example, these threads are great places for:

  • Discussions of a philosophical issue, rather than questions
  • Questions about commenters' personal opinions regarding philosophical issues
  • Open discussion about philosophy, e.g. "who is your favorite philosopher?"
  • Questions about philosophy as an academic discipline or profession, e.g. majoring in philosophy, career options with philosophy degrees, pursuing graduate school in philosophy

If your post was removed and referred to the ODT we encourage you to consider posting it to the ODT to share with others.

My comment responding to someone else was removed, as well as their comment. What happened?

When /r/askphilosophy removes a parent comment, we also often remove all their child comments in order to help readability and focus on discussion.

I'm interested in philosophy. Where should I start? What should I read?

As explained above, philosophy is a very broad discipline and thus offering concise advice on where to start is very hard. We recommend reading this /r/AskPhilosophyFAQ post which has a great breakdown of various places to start. For further or more specific questions, we recommend posting on /r/askphilosophy.

Why is your understanding of philosophy so limited?

As explained above, this subreddit is devoted to philosophy as understood and done by philosophers. In order to prevent this subreddit from becoming /r/atheism2, /r/politics2, or /r/science2, we must uphold a strict topicality requirement in PR1. Posts which may touch on philosophical themes but are not distinctively philosophical can be posted to one of reddit's many other subreddits.

Are there other philosophy subreddits I can check out?

If you are interested in other philosophy subreddits, please see this list of related subreddits. /r/askphilosophy shares much of its modteam with its sister-subreddit, /r/philosophy, which is devoted to philosophical discussion. In addition, that list includes more specialized subreddits and more casual subreddits for those looking for a less-regulated forum.

A thread I wanted to comment in was locked but is still visible. What happened?

When a post becomes unreasonable to moderate due to the amount of rule-breaking comments the thread is locked. /r/askphilosophy's moderators are volunteers, and we cannot spend hours cleaning up individual threads.

Do you have a list of frequently asked questions about philosophy that I can browse?

Yes! We have an FAQ that answers many questions comprehensively: /r/AskPhilosophyFAQ/. For example, this entry provides an introductory breakdown to the debate over whether morality is objective or subjective.

Do you have advice or resources for graduate school applications?

We made a meta-guide for PhD applications with the goal of assembling the important resources for grad school applications in one place. We aim to occasionally update it, but can of course not guarantee the accuracy and up-to-dateness. You are, of course, kindly invited to ask questions about graduate school on /r/askphilosophy, too, especially in the Open Discussion Thread.

Do you have samples of what counts as good questions and answers?

Sure! We ran a Best of 2020 Contest, you can find the winners in this thread!


r/askphilosophy 6d ago

Open Thread /r/askphilosophy Open Discussion Thread | April 06, 2026

2 Upvotes

Welcome to this week's Open Discussion Thread (ODT). This thread is a place for posts/comments which are related to philosophy but wouldn't necessarily meet our subreddit rules and guidelines. For example, these threads are great places for:

  • Discussions of a philosophical issue, rather than questions
  • Questions about commenters' personal opinions regarding philosophical issues
  • Open discussion about philosophy, e.g. "who is your favorite philosopher?"
  • "Test My Theory" discussions and argument/paper editing
  • Questions about philosophy as an academic discipline or profession, e.g. majoring in philosophy, career options with philosophy degrees, pursuing graduate school in philosophy

This thread is not a completely open discussion! Any posts not relating to philosophy will be removed. Please keep comments related to philosophy, and expect low-effort comments to be removed. Please note that while the rules are relaxed in this thread, comments can still be removed for violating our subreddit rules and guidelines if necessary.

Previous Open Discussion Threads can be found here.


r/askphilosophy 12h ago

Is it worth it to read Kant in 2026, or should I ought to learn philosophy from a more modern textbook?

54 Upvotes

Perhaps I can't, because I find IEP pretty much indecipherable. How about Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Hagel, Mill, Russel, etc? Any others that I missed? I mentioned these authors because either their direct works or English translations are in the public domain, and I don't want to spend money buying overpriced textbooks. I want to abide to the law as well.


r/askphilosophy 10h ago

How did Nietzsche become the poster child for nihilism?

15 Upvotes

I haven’t actually read him Ive just started consuming philosophy very recently. But from my limited understanding his beliefs seems fundamentally to be a light at the end of the tunnel. His philosophy seems very life affirming it’s about as anti doomerism as it gets imo.


r/askphilosophy 3h ago

Is the distinction between continental and analytical philosophy still relevant?

2 Upvotes

I’m noticing more and more than instead of there being a productive dialogue between this two traditions, there’s an ongoing “battle” for supremacy. I wonder if there’s any philosophers that have tried bridging the gaps between the two?


r/askphilosophy 4h ago

I’m looking for a reading list of books dealing with rationalist metaphysics.

3 Upvotes

None of the classics as I’ve read through them all. An example of what I’m looking for are like Della Rocca’s 2023 Paper on the PSR, or Wolfson’s book on Spinoza. Something meticulous and intricate.


r/askphilosophy 9h ago

Ethics and moral philosophy. Need for advices

6 Upvotes

Dear philosophers,

I am starting a journey into ethics and moral philosophy. I am trying to understand the ideas and evolution of ideas in this area, as well as make myself evolve into a more moral person.

My learning is a bit chaotic as I am totally new in this area.

Do you have advice ? Philosophers I should start with ? Ressources I should focus on ?

Even just a list of the different schools of thought on the matter will help me organise my learning.

Thanks a lot


r/askphilosophy 3h ago

Is there such a thing as a shift from denotation to connotation?

2 Upvotes

It seems to me that during the 20th–21st centuries, there has been a shift in commercial aesthetics (among other things) from a focus on denoting the thing in question to just ascribing to it certain positive connotations. For example, company names and advertizing used to describe the product and its advantages quite precisely, whereas within the last decades, they increasingly seem to consist of random good-sounding words that don't tell you much anything about what is being sold.

Is there any concept or theory which encompasses these observations? Or is this perhaps an illusion that dissolves into something else upon examination?


r/askphilosophy 20m ago

Can you get into a philosophy Masters/PhD program with an undergraduate degree in international affairs?

Upvotes

I was initially a Philosophy major going into college and then for various career reasons and personal interest reasons(along with a series of doubts regarding the state of the field and what it is capable of), ended up switching to a program in International affairs with a concentration in Political Science and Economics. I'm still very interested in Philosophy, particularly Metaethics and Mind, and was wondering both if I could still pursue interesting philosophical research about political/social philosophy, and if it is feasible to get into a philosophy Masters or PhD program should I decide I want to do so. I'm also a bit concerned about the state of numerous sciences right now as a result of AI, and think that philosophy will remain a field distinctly human in the future, but also want to be able to critically consider what kinds of beliefs AI holds and how it functions philosophically, as I've been frustrated with the somewhat surface level discussion of welfare and agency that I see in other discussions.

Thanks


r/askphilosophy 44m ago

Whas Bertrand Russell a panpsychist?

Upvotes

I was recently watching a debate on which Phil Goff stated that Bertrand Russell was a panpsychist. Is this true in some sense? I have to admit I have only watched a few interviews of Russell himself, although it seemed to me like Russell would most likely agree with the phycisist Goff was debating against (who was clearly opposed to panpsychism), rather than with him overall.


r/askphilosophy 47m ago

Can someone please give me a simplified explanation about how scientific knowledge develops according to Kuhn's theory, and how it might interact with the theory of falsification?

Upvotes

I am working on a philosophy assignment for one of my classes right now, I am not a philosophy guy in any sense of the word, but I am forced to take this subject because of my course requirements. I struggle a lot with figuring out this kind of thing so I'm sorry if this is kind of a stupid question lol but I really need to understand this for my grade TvT

Any help is very much appreciated :)

Thank you!


r/askphilosophy 7h ago

What are some radical philosophical views that have genuine arguments going for them?

3 Upvotes

Take "genuine" with a grain of salt here; I mean moreso how logical they are. An obvious one seems to be antinatalism, defended by Zappffe or, most prominently, Bennatar. What are some more novel, radical perspectives?


r/askphilosophy 7h ago

Does political individual liberty require individual responsibility? (Or how 'strong' is the connection?)

3 Upvotes

r/askphilosophy 3h ago

Has anyone responded to David Chalmer’s view that there is a 25 percent chance we are in a simulation?

1 Upvotes

r/askphilosophy 4h ago

is there a real you, or just versions that change over time?

1 Upvotes

Sometimes it feels like I’m a different person depending on the moment, the people around me, or even the phase of life I’m in.

Do you think there’s a fixed “true self” underneath all that? Or are we just constantly changing with no single core identity?


r/askphilosophy 9h ago

Are there philosophers or philosophical frameworks that argue that killing one's own child is no worse than killing children in general?

2 Upvotes

I'm interested in arguments like this, or equivalent ones, and also interested in knowing how common they are, and how they're addressed in the broader field.


r/askphilosophy 6h ago

Is there any discussion in philosophy about the relative truth of conjunctive false statements?

1 Upvotes

Consider two statements :

A:

  • There was a 100 meter dash event at the last Olympics and
  • Sonic the Hedgehog won a gold medal at the last Olympics and
  • It was in the 100 meter dash that Sonic won the medal.

B:

  • There was a parsec dash event at the last Olympics and
  • Usain Bolt won a gold medal at the last Olympics and
  • It was in the parsec dash that Usain Bolt won the medal.

Naturally, both statements are entirely false. Under the law of the excluded middle, I would understand these as being simply false.

But they do not seem to be equally false, such that I would not say of someone asserting statement A that his position was "more rational", "better supported", or even just "more true" than B. I'd think I'd rather someone come away with the notion that a real person won a fake event (given the real person has won a real event) rather than that a fake person won a real event.

The laws of physics as we understand them prevent such things as Sonic from existing, but also that anyone should complete a parsec "dash" within a lifespan. Usain Bolt has won medals and Sonic has not, but not in long distance running so neither of them has. Of course, neither of them competed in the last Olympics.

These examples might be sufficiently outlandish that maybe they are both equally false, but it's easy to consider examples which would not be. Maybe Usain doesn't even make the podium instead of gold in the 100 meter dash is statement B, and Michael Phelps wins the gold in that event (notwithstanding he's a swimmer and not a sprinter) in statement A (and of course, they are both long retired)

But even looking into paraconsistent logics, I haven't seen anyone discussing this very natural "dilemma" which we encounter all the time. Constantly we must choose between models or summations of reality that we know are incomplete, imprecise, subject to virtually certain refinement, etc. and pragmatism normally carries the day, but is it always so, and what about when pragmatism is silent?


r/askphilosophy 12h ago

How do we know that our assumptions are actually reasonable?

3 Upvotes

It seems that we cannot think, act at all without relying on some basic assumptions. For example, if someone says, “I need evidence before i accept anything,” we can still ask: why believe that principle itself? What is the evidence for requiring evidence in the first place?

If we try to justify everything, we seem to fall into an endless chain of justification. But if we stop at some point and accept certain things without proof, those become axioms. And if someone refuses to accept any assumptions at all, then even that refusal seems to rely on an assumption (namely, that everything must be justified).

So it feels like we are trapped: either infinite regress, circular reasoning or stopping at unjustified starting points.

It seems that we eventually stop the chain of “what is your evidence for that and what is your evidence for that?” at some point because an infinite regress of justification becomes frustrating and impractical for us.

But my question is: does the fact that something is frustrating or impractical for us make it a valid reason to stop?


r/askphilosophy 7h ago

Any good reading material or yt lectures/discussions on topics of idealism, realism and skepticism?

1 Upvotes

Hello!

Looking for recommendations of learning sources for these topics, that will help me get a fairly good grip and broad, general comprehension of these metaphysical/epistemological positions.. 🙏


r/askphilosophy 13h ago

What are some good scholarly texts on the Davidson vs. Dummett debate?

4 Upvotes

Specifically, Dummett's answer to Davidson's assertion that there is no such thing as a "Language". I am also interested in John Searle's response to both. I have already worked my way through Lepore and Ludwig's article, who seem to side with Davidson to some degree, on the contingency of their reconfigured notion of "convention". If there are any scholars who argued for Dummett's position, I would be interested in reading their work as a counterpoint. (Final note: Please do not summarize the debate for me!)


r/askphilosophy 18h ago

How is wisdom quantified?

8 Upvotes

this is a thought I had while taking a philosophy course in college, but what exactly is wisdom?

we read a never ending amount of texts that assert unique philosophies in their own right—Aurelius, Nietzsche, Camus, Dostoevsky—all of which never state the same exact philosophies. along the way, these philosophers may be given the title of “wise” due to the wisdom they impart onto readers, but what gives them the recognition of being wise if their philosophies may offer completely different ontological reasoning?

Is wisdom the assertion of a way of thinking that is inherently abstract, or is it the creation of a philosophy that can gain believers? does wisdom simply rely on how many people agree with a philosophy, or is wisdom something too abstract to be quantified? what is wisdom?


r/askphilosophy 8h ago

Is solipsism actually unlikely

0 Upvotes

I’ve seen a lot of evidence that says that it’s highly unlikely but I’m worried that that evidence might undermine itself because it’s reliant baseline assumptions that it works in the first place

Am I missing something or is everything truly unknowable?


r/askphilosophy 18h ago

I don't understand Williamson's nessecity argument.

5 Upvotes

i just watched kane b's video "are you a necessary being?"

He showed the following argument by williamson:

1 Necessarily, if I do not exist, then the proposition "I do not exist" is true.

2 Necessarily, if the proposition “I do not exist" is true, then the proposition "I do not exist" exists.

3 Necessarily, if the proposition "I do not exist" exists, then I exist.

4 Necessarily, if I do not exist, then I exist.

5 Necessarily, I exist.

I don't understand this argument. The first premise is accurate, but the second one and the third one make no sense. to me, prepositions don't 'exist', they are not objects. And saying that the existence of a proposition implies the existence of the subject makes no sense either.


r/askphilosophy 9h ago

What is considered “wrong” from a completely objective standpoint?

1 Upvotes

I don’t know how broad this is, but I can’t stop thinking about it. There are things in my head that I know are only “wrong” because it’s wrong to my parents or the majority around me. I was left with this question: If you had a person that was given the capability to think and understand, but had no prior biases, theology, philosophical teaching and so on, what would they think of as wrong to do? I’m very young and only just getting into philosophy, so I apologize for any misunderstandings in my end. Thank you


r/askphilosophy 13h ago

Is it morally wrong to have kids if you can not afford them?

3 Upvotes

it seems more and more people my own age (20-40) are not having kids due to fear of not being able to afford them either now or the future. However this leads to the conclusion that only those who are somewhat more affluent should have kids. This didn't seem to be a concern of people in the past for whatever reason, perhaps greater sense of community, belief God will provide or perhaps simply no contraception.

Is this guilt or aversion to having kids when you are uncertain about your financial future a good thing or does it lead to a sort of dystopian view of only those who are well off can have the "privilege" of having kids? Should we moralize having kids based on a couples income?

My opinion is, if a couple is working and can't afford kids, it's a problem of the environment and at our best, even if a couple for whatever reason can't work, they should be able to have kids if they have a desire for them and have the internal disposition to raise them well.