Could you please describe what you believe are the best arguments for the existence of God?

I find the distinction between compatibilism and determinism to be incomprehensible. Suppose that determinism is true and incompatible with moral responsibility. Then, person A might hold person B morally responsible but according to determinism, person A was hardwired to do this, so we can not hold A morally responsible for holding person B morally responsible (and even if we were to hold A morally responsible, our holding A morally responsible can not bear moral responsibility). In other words, A can hold B morally responsible. So, then, is there really a distinction between compatibilism and determinism?

I've been adding 2+2 all day, and I keep getting the number 5 as the answer. Does the number 4 not exist, or do we just perceive it differently?

Hello, I was wondering if Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis' epitaph, "I hope for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free" holds philosophical weight? Do any philosophers support the idea that if you hope and fear nothing then you are truly free?

How do you know the answers to all of these (what seems to me) difficult questions? Is there some sort of book you can read to learn about the questions asked on this site?

Quantum behaviour says that before a phenomenon is observed there may be a number of possible outcomes. Once observed, the number of possible outcomes becomes one; what actually happened? Surely the present moment consists of an infinity of phenomena which, with the benefit of Quantum hindsight, may be seen to have *actually* been certainties. Uncertainty exists only in the mind of an imperfect observer; there’s no such thing as foresight outside of a limited, dry mathematical framework. This leads me to think the following; i) That everything is as it is because it could not possibly have been any other way. ii) All the things in the universe whose extremely improbable existence we marvel at and things which everything else depend on who, if they were any other way, lots of other things wouldn’t work either, were actually (in retrospect), absolute certainties. Is this a gross misunderstanding of Quantum theory, an obvious conclusion, or a line of thinking with some mileage? I can see it leading...

Other than the fact that it is your job, why do you practice philosophy now? Bob West

Hello. I have just read the introduction to this site and was interested in the "paradox" you mention -- that everyone confronts philosophical issues but not everyone has the opportunity to learn philosophy. In my ears, this statement has a twinge of arrogance about it, and my question is whether you think philosophy must, almost necessarily, make its practitioners arrogant. In the first place, regarding the claim itself: it seems that far from everyone confronts philosophical issues in their lives. Many people are confronted with practical issues, like how to get themselves out of poverty, or save their daughter from leukemia. Philosophy has nothing to offer here, it seems. Secondly, still regarding the claim that everyone confronts philosophical issues: while it may be true that many people (though probably mostly wealthy people, no?) confront SOME philosophical issues, there seem to be a great many philosophical issues that would never occur to people to be interested in. Issues in the...

What, if anything, distinguishes natural beauty from artistic beauty?

You seem to have to know the cultural context of a piece of art to appreciate it. For example a painting may not be particularly outstanding on its own but it may have been the first in a new style or movement in art. However this means that a piece of art has different asethetic value depending on the past works or future developments. It seems counter-intuitive for the same object to be of differing value due to different outside circumstances.