Questions tagged [regress]
The regress tag has no usage guidance.
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Infinite regresses and AI: are they compatible?
I haven't been thinking about this very long, but when I encounter an infinite regress, I recognize it as a problem and then look for ways around that (avoid, make it virtuous, I don't know). I may ...
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Initial/terminal values in a category of values (instead of intrinsic/final vs. extrinsic/instrumental values)
It seems as if the concept of intrinsic value is so unclear and/or unstable that we can't even tell whether (or when) it is transitiveT:
First, there is the possibility that the relation of intrinsic ...
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Can the hard problem of consciousness, in principle, be answered with a mathematical formula?
By "answering the hard problem with a formula," what I mean is to give a formula F that takes as input a mathematical representation of a physical system, and produces as output a ...
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Do regresses-of-reasons go from particulars to generalities only, or can they mediate chains of just particulars or just generalities too?
I was thinking of Kant's discourse on the form of the law and the law of formality as reciprocal (in the Critique of Practical Reason), where he seems to talk about a regress from specific maxims to ...
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Can a totally ordered set with a last element but no first element exist, or is this contradictory?
Can a totally ordered set with a last element but no first element exist, or is this contradictory? An example of such a set would be a set that is ordered from largest to smallest, with there being ...
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Does Intelligent Design (ID) entail an infinite regress of designers, and if so, is that problematic?
We can arrive at an infinite regress of designers as follows:
Suppose that X is so complex that it's considered to show evidence of design. Accordingly, we infer that an intelligent designer must be ...
user66156
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Can circular reasoning be logical, and can it provide support for the Bible?
Circular reasoning is a type of logical fallacy where the premise is used to prove the conclusion. A basis example would be:
This historical movie is creditable.
Why?
Because it says so.
In this ...
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Multigraphs, hypergraphs, and the epistemic regress
Some definitions (from what I can tell):
A multigraph is a graph where a node can connect via multiple edges.
A hypergraph is a graph where a single edge can connect more than two nodes. ...
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Point in infinite regress where a 'why' question can no longer be answered
Example:
Q1: If I collected one apple, and I collected another apple, why do I have two apples now?
A1: Because 1 + 1 = 2
Q2: Why is 1 + 1 = 2?
Another example:
Q1: If gravity pulls us downwards, ...
user63990
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Is the axiomatic method an inherently well-founded method?
It occurred to me a little while ago, that there is a trichotomy in set theory that maps to the positive solutions to the problem of the regress of inferential reasons. Namely, well-founded sets map ...
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Doesn't infinite regress go backward forever? Is SEP wrong?
I have always understood infinite regress to mean going backwards forever. (Forever as in endlessly, not necessarily temporally). A model would be the negative integers, if we viewed them as a model ...
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