Hello, what do you think of this argument against God's existence? If the world's existence is contingent. There is a possible world in which the world doesn't exist. There isn't a possible world where the world doesn't exist. The world's existence is not contingent. If the world's existence is not contingent, it is impossible or it is necessary. The world exists; therefore, its existence is not impossible. The world's existence is necessary. If the world's existence is necessary, the world cannot not exist. If it cannot not exist, it is eternal. If it is eternal, it's uncreated. If it's uncreated, it doesn't have a creator. If it doesn't have a creator, God doesn't exist. The world is eternal. God doesn't exist.

How do we know that plants and similar don't feel pain? As far as I see it plants just don't act like they're in pain, but that doesn't mean they aren't. They could just be very stoic about it.

Could you please tell me about the origin of the phrase "conceptual role semantics"? Thank you very much!

For clarity, I will ask the "same" question several different ways: Is it wrong to have bad thoughts? Does having and enjoying evil thoughts make one evil? Is having bad thoughts wrong, even if no action is intended? Is it wrong to wish harm to another person? Mainly, if merely having bad thoughts is wrong, why EXACTLY is it wrong? A version of this question has been asked here before, but I feel the answer did not address the essence or why having bad thoughts is wrong. (What I'd really like to know is what philosophical principle addresses this question, so that I can look into it much further than this small space can provide.)

(First question here:) If our world were to become a world without borders, would that necessarily be a good thing or a bad thing?

Why should consistency be seen as a universal moral principle? Unless everybody is a Jesus that sacrifices for others, isn't everyone to some degree a hypocrite? The only thing that matters is how much one disregards other people. Couldn't some term like "stability" or "peace" replace the necessity of absolute consistency (lack of hypocrisy), although it would be hard to define exactly what that stability ought to look like.

I believe that there are only 3 possible options. 1) That God or some all powerful being created the universe. This is a very bizarre state because it means we are all subordinates to an independent being that has always existed. Strange. 2) The universe was created out of nothing. Truly weird. 3) That the universe has always existed. This is simply incomprehensible. Because these are the only 3 options I see and because each is mind-bogglingly discouraging or incomprehensible - or downright goofy - I think this whole existence thing is either some sort of hallucination or a complete joke. (Another possibility is that I am in some sort of hell.) Therefore, I take nothing seriously and treat this whole thing sort of the way you deal with the pain of stubbing your toe. Kind of grit your teeth and wait for the pain to end. Any thoughts?

I have a small question about logic. In my text, "3 is less than or equal to pi" is translated as PvQ, where P is "3 is less than pi" and Q is "3 is equal to pi." Seems simple enough. But why isn't the statement better translated as (PvQ)&~(P&Q)? Of course, if you know what "less than" and "equal to" really mean, you'll understand that P&Q is precluded; but it bothers me that this is not explicitly stated in the translation. Someone who understands logic but not English might infer from PvQ that 3 may be simultaneously "less than" and "equal to" pi, and this strikes me as problematic.

I have just found out today that the man I have been dating for 6 months is mildly autistic. I had no idea about this until just a few hours ago, so this realization left me shocked. I understand autism and that it is nothing like mental retardation, or anything to that extent. But still I feel like I am doing something morally wrong by continuing to date him. Should I end the relationship because it isn't fair to him, seeing as he may not fully understand his feelings or mine? Or should I continue the relationship because his autism is only mild? Please let me know what you think, I am completely torn and cannot figure out whether I am doing something horribly wrong or not.

One of my favorite rap artists used to be a drug dealer and a pimp. He is not apologetic, but regularly brags about it. If I buy his albums, am I supporting drugs and pimping?