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Re:The logic of Buddhist philosophy by mcguire on Thursday May 08, 2014 @11:12AM (#7715704)
"Moreover, to exist is to have a particular identity, to have a nature, to be something."

Tweet! Assuming the conclusion! 10 yard penalty, return the sliotar to first base.

Re:The logic of Buddhist philosophy by muhuk on Friday May 09, 2014 @04:13AM (#7719885)
Can something exist without identity?

Can something exist yet have no nature?

Can something exist without being (anything)?

Re:The logic of Buddhist philosophy by mcguire on Friday May 09, 2014 @12:34PM (#7721756)
Let me start by pointing to to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7715277.

How do you know something exists?

Because you can see it.

So you don't know that something exists, you only know that your sense impressions have been triggered. How do you know its nature?

Because of what you see.

So you don't know anything about its nature, only about its relationship with your sensory apparatus. (Hey, I may have just invented category theory!)

How can something exist...?

Don't look at me, man. It's all probability waves as far as I can tell.

Note: I don't really, actually, myself, buy into this form of epistemology and metaphysics, so I may have the arguments badly. On the other hand, those are major topics that have a lot of diverse implications. They cannot simply be dismissed by assertion.

Re:The logic of Buddhist philosophy by muhuk on Friday May 09, 2014 @10:34PM (#7724262)
By your logic, that you didn't own but used nevertheless:

You don't know I asked those questions, you only know that your sense impressions have been triggered.

Similarly my eyes sent some signals to my brain and after processing them I have concluded that you have replied to my comment. But wait! I don't really know you replied me, do I?

Since my senses are unreliable and I don't have any other means to interact with reality but my senses, my mind is impotent to deal with reality. What else can I do but go through my life hallucinating and doubting myself or inventing fantasies to keep my sanity.

-----

When you look at the moon (at the right time) you see circle. Then you can decide the moon is circular. Your senses are working just fine, so is your brain. It's your limited knowledge that leads you to wrong conclusions. As you observe and learn more, you integrate more and more concepts and you can eventually arrive to the point that moon is indeed a somewhat spherical object.

Or you can conclude that your senses are lying to you and reality cannot be known. Then you'd never go further than "looks circular, but know knows, right?".

Re:The logic of Buddhist philosophy by javert on Thursday May 08, 2014 @12:50PM (#7716242)
Not assuming the conclusion, but stating a conclusion.

You might as well make the same comment in response to the statment, "Python is an interpreted language."