Questions tagged [existence]
Ontological and metaphysical questions about the study of existence, being and the structure of reality.
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Could 'cogito ergo sum' possibly be false?
I've heard it postulated by some people that "we can't truly know anything". While that does seem to apply to the vast majority of things, I can't see how 'cogito ergo sum' can possibly be false.
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How can one differentiate nonexistent entities?
How is it possible for things that do not exist to not be the same? How can one differentiate nonexistent entities? How can I know the difference between ghosts and werewolves if neither exist?
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Is Alzheimer’s disease evidence for the non-existence of the soul?
As Alzheimer's disease kills off neurons, a person's personality and cognitive abilities gradually fade away. Doesn't this suggest that the self or "soul" is simply an emergent property of ...
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Being alive today: the most improbable coincidence?
Think about it; modern humans have been around for at least a couple hundred thousand years.
Yet, your mind, your soul, your very awareness, happens to be "alive" today. If time is a flow, moving ...
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What arguments would support a secular pro-life position?
I've been thinking about the pro-life position (by "pro-life" I mean the position that abortion should be illegal. I.e. on par with murder) for awhile, and it is normally presented as a religious ...
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Is willful ignorance about one's own mortality escapism?
I don't mean if someone is dying of cancer and they refuse treatment or something -- I'm saying if a healthy person who is unhappy obsessing over his own inevitable death one day chooses to ignore ...
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Can something come out of nothing or not? Why?
In our current state of affairs it is safe and reasonable to assume something exists - be it a universe, pure conciousness, illusion or other designations. If some readers nevertheless claim something ...
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If you place a pencil in an opaque box and close the box, does the pencil exist? [closed]
I’m trying to explain to my friends about things existing. I gave them this question: if you place a pencil in an opaque box and close the box, does the pencil exist? They say yes and I ask how do ...
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What is the meaning of "meaning of life" and why do people seek it?
One of the oldest questions is "What is the meaning of life?". But what does the concept of "meaning of life" actually mean? What does it mean for something to be the "meaning ...
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Can we know that something exists even if we can't explain or define it?
Can a person know that something like "free will" must exist even though an exact definition in words, using language, cannot be provided, and in the absence of a complete theory that ...
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Why do things have a front and a back?
This question was asked by my three year old niece and I couldn't think of a good answer.
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Can one prove a negative existential claim?
A major concern in epistemology is just what we can know about existential claims, that is, claims about the existence (or lack of) something.
Suppose for example that I assert the following:
The ...
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What does "everything" mean?
For starter, I'm not a student in philosophy, but mathematics. I only have a general knowledge in logic and set theory, all in the context of mathematics. My question comes from a doubt I got while ...
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Proving that man is not born with certain skills?
I was arguing with my father about the nature of the human mind. I believe that a man is not born with a predetermined skill, such as painter or composer, and that through hard work and dedication, a ...
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Could it be possible that the universe doesn't exist?
Could it be possible that the universe doesn't exist? That nothing exists, not even you or me?
And by not existing, I mean totally not existing, as in not even existing as a computer simulation, or a ...
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