Earlier quoted context omitted.
What if it didn't destroy the old one? Would there be any doubt at all?
The person who popped out of the other end of the teleporter would be doubtful. Does it make a difference if it's a teleporter that destroys the original as an necessary part of its function, vs one that destroyed the original but didn't need to do so, vs one that did not destroy the original?
What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
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Re: What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
#62I was hoping to see absolute or relative moral values, but couldn't find it on there.
No, but there is a question concerning moral realism. Since moral relativism is a type of moral anti-realism which is entertained by 27.7% of respondents, it follows that less than 27.7% philosophers are relativists.
Re: What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Phil major here. Imagine a being that acted exactly like a human, it spoke, laughed, etc. - everything that you'd imagine a human being to do. However, it does not actually feel or think. For example, if you were to prick one of these "zombies," they would say "ouch," recoil, perhaps berate you, but the zombie does not actually feel pain - it's a purely mechanical process. Metaphysics is concerned with the nature of…
Thanks for the explanation! Now I'm way interested in reading more about these zombies.
John Searle's Chinese Room, Turing Test, physicalism, Conway's Game of Life
Re: What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
#64I was surprised to see so many leaning towards the switch in the Trolley problem. I still haven't made my mind on that.
Simple, switching results in fewer deaths.
Rational people look for a lower number of deaths and the less rational (emotional) look to avoid action creating the misery of someone else.
People that pull the switch are thought to have more sociopathic tendencies even though doing the action would result in a lower overall number of deaths.
Re: What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
People who tend to be interested in philosophy and are theists probably tend to go into religion rather than philosophy.
That's one hypothesis. An alternative hypothesis would be to suggest that the more educated one becomes in philosophy the less that religion makes sense, and the clearer it becomes that there is no evidence for theism. (Note, I'm not advocating for either of these hypotheses, but correlation is not causation.)
There is certainly a cultural side to philosophy in Modern Western society that is largely anti-religious from the very beginning. I started out as your average fervent evangelical Christian, which I am no longer, but it was initially incredibly uncomfortable in a philosophy department to try to hold on to certain belief systems. However, it is not necessarily for the reasons that one would believe. It is a culturally phenomenon. In older generations, it was entirely unacceptable to be religious and be in philosophy. You were naturally routed towards theology by the university staff because the topics of conversation are entirely different; modern philosophy does not concern itself with the question of religion. Yet, the vast majority of older philosophy professors, when being honest, will acknowledge that despite their atheism there are still countless religious systems that have fascinating thinkers and concepts that are both rational and consistent.
It just so happens that in America, Christianity is the de facto symbol for religion and it is both irrational and inconsistent.
Re: What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Simple, switching results in fewer deaths.
But switching requires an action that will cause the death of another. Rational people look for a lower number of deaths and the less rational (emotional) look to avoid action creating the misery of someone else. People that pull the switch are thought to have more sociopathic tendencies even though doing the action would result in a lower overall number of deaths.
That's interesting. Do you know what is the rationale behind this?
Re: What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
#67Here's one of my favorites. Glad to see the pros are evenly split, because this one really toasts my brain too. Teletransporter (new matter): survival or death? Accept or lean toward: survival 337 / 931 (36.2%) Other 304 / 931 (32.7%) Accept or lean toward: death 290 / 931 (31.1%)
Re: What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
What you have just said doesn't in any way help answer most of the questions on the survey.
It does help to answer most of the true philosophical problems about reality etc. Many problems on that page are IMHO psychological or sociological problems, e.g. the ethical problems.
True, descriptive ethics is almost entirely composed of various facts about human psychology and sociology, but no normative claim can be deduced from these facts alone.
Re: What professional philosophers believe – Survey results
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
But switching requires an action that will cause the death of another. Rational people look for a lower number of deaths and the less rational (emotional) look to avoid action creating the misery of someone else. People that pull the switch are thought to have more sociopathic tendencies even though doing the action would result in a lower overall number of deaths.
> People that pull the switch are thought to have more sociopathic tendencies That's interesting. Do you know what is the rationale behind this?
The series is both fascinating and frightening in way. I reccomend watching it to see the current ideas in brain science presented by the people creataing them.