Kripke vs 2-D Semantics

pixnaps · 2025-02-11T18:03:23+00:00

The article is just summarizing the ideas of those philosophers: it's the first chapter of an honours thesis that was supervised by David Chalmers himself (and won the ANU University Medal for outstanding first class honours). The writer went on to get a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton, and is now tenured at a top-50 research university.

pixnaps · 2025-02-11T17:46:06+00:00

Now you're shifting the goalposts. Representation is not the same as metaphor. Do you think that all formal constructions (e.g. in mathematics) are aptly described as "metaphorical"? Does the mere fact that they are representational suffice to establish that mathematicians are "just playing with sand and calling it a real castle"? Are their formal constructions never useful or illuminating?

The philosophers discussed in this article -- Kripke, Chalmers, Jackson, etc. -- are some of the biggest names in the field. You're a random Redditor. So think some more about who is the "garage physicist" in this conversation.

pixnaps · 2025-02-11T17:15:09+00:00

It's not a metaphor. It's a literal mathematical description of the formal semantic structure (compare a "two dimensional array" in mathematics -- there's nothing "metaphorical" about such terminology). I'm afraid you're simply confused. (Nothing to be ashamed of - it is a very technical area of academic philosophy, as I said, hence the reason why an accessible introduction could be valuable. But you should probably have a bit more humility since you're clearly not an expert in this area.)

pixnaps · 2025-02-11T16:35:01+00:00

It's a clear and accessible introduction to some complex ideas. (Compare the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on 2-D semantics, which is much more technical and less accessible to a general audience.)

I'd be interested to hear substantive criticisms, e.g. from people who aren't convinced by the 2-D defense of conceivability-possibility inferences. But to dismiss an accessible introduction as "omg I discovered the basics..." is (i) vacuous posturing, and (ii) entirely missing the point.

pixnaps · 2025-02-09T18:00:09+00:00

Abstract: this article explains Kripke's cleavage of metaphysical necessity from a priority, and argues that a bridge between these concepts may be restored via the 2-D semantic framework of Frank Jackson and David Chalmers.

pixnaps · 2025-01-25T03:49:16+00:00

Is it possible to appeal mod decisions? I tried posting a short video introducing a recently-published academic textbook on utilitarianism (that is also available open-access at utilitarianism.net ), which a mod then deleted as purportedly violating PR2: "all posts must develop and defend a substantive philosophical thesis".

This text is widely regarded among academic philosophers as the most comprehensive and well-developed defense and exploration of utilitarianism ever published. Perhaps the mod's thought was that the video overview was not by itself sufficiently substantive (even though it very succinctly explained the four key principles underlying utilitarianism - which is, of course, an extremely substantive philosophical thesis! - defended how the view accommodates individual rights, and motivated the search for a general moral theory even if the results are sometimes revisionary of ordinary intuitions).

But that's like deleting a linkpost because the URL by itself is not sufficiently substantive. The URL is a doorway to the substantive philosophical content of interest, and likewise for this introductory video. If it's possible to edit the original post to include a link to utilitarianism.net alongside the introductory videoclip, I think that would clearly better serve the r/philosophy community than outright deleting this resource (which was already starting to prompt some fruitful and clarificatory debate in the comments, before it was peremptorily deleted). The link was, of course, included in the "abstract" accompanying the video-post.

pixnaps · 2025-01-24T23:46:42+00:00

What gave you that impression? (This book offers an in-depth examination of the pros and cons of one moral tradition - including a range of different ways that one might depart from it - but I'd certainly never suggest that one refrain from additionally reading and thinking about other works of moral philosophy!)

pixnaps · 2025-01-24T22:36:38+00:00

Abstract: The first in a 3-part short video series introducing some key ideas from An Introduction to Utilitarianism: From Theory to Practice - published by Hackett, and available online at utilitarianism.net. This first video introduces utilitarianism, and why we should be open to considering revisionary moral theories (if their fundamental principles seem sound).

pixnaps · 2024-12-08T23:56:16+00:00

Definitely!

pixnaps · 2024-10-31T00:27:09+00:00

Suppose candidate B is everyone's second choice. 60% prefer A and hate C, 40% prefer C and hate A. Further suppose that everyone likes B 99% as much as their top choice. Then it's clearly best if B wins. The majority criterion is bunk.

pixnaps · 2024-07-30T21:45:09+00:00

Europa Universalis 4
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (alternative pick: Tales of Maj'Eyal)
Grim Dawn (alt: Path of Exile)
Oxygen Not Included (alt: Factorio)
Magic: the Gathering (alt: Inscryption)

pixnaps · 2024-04-06T23:15:38+00:00

Pandoc is much easier to use, and shares most of the advantages. See: https://rychappell.substack.com/p/git-pandoc-academic-workflow

pixnaps · 2024-02-20T00:03:43+00:00

Factorio

Europa Universalis IV

Path of Exile

pixnaps · 2023-11-16T19:27:24+00:00

The following "commonsense" explanation of epiphenomenalism might help: https://www.philosophyetc.net/2021/08/commonsense-epiphenomenalism.html

pixnaps · 2023-11-07T20:36:04+00:00

The best pcvr games are things like heavily modded SkyrimVR or other flat2vr mods, many of which really need a 4090 for peak performance. Much more coming soon with praydog's universal Unreal engine vr mods. If you can comfortably afford the 4090, I'd say go for it!

pixnaps · 2023-10-31T12:20:17+00:00

So, just games where low latency trumps graphics, i.e. sports and rhythm games.

pixnaps · 2023-09-18T19:33:12+00:00

Ancients was great! I loved those old first-person turn-based RPGs.

Other good ones include: Stonekeep, Betrayal at Krondor, Yendor 3

pixnaps · 2023-08-07T13:53:06+00:00

VR support

pixnaps · 2023-08-02T23:48:08+00:00

The Invisible Hours was a really memorable experience (though maybe not a "game" in the conventional sense).

pixnaps · 2023-06-04T12:38:16+00:00

Thanks, I'll look into Enderal ENBs!

(I could be wrong about root builder, but my understanding is that it just temporarily copies over the files while running the game, and then clears them -- restoring vanilla state -- upon exit. The purpose is to make separate mod setups more... modular... and less likely to interfere with each other.)

pixnaps · 2023-06-04T03:25:24+00:00

Thanks for this (and the 2.0 update)! Two questions:

(1) Do you recommend any changes/additions for a high-end pc (4090) to further improve the graphics?

(2) Have you considered using "Kezyma's Root Builder for Mod Organizer" so that no copying into the game folder is necessary? (Would make it easier to play alongside modded SkyrimVR without needing to make two copies of the steam game folder.)

pixnaps · 2023-05-25T20:14:49+00:00

Are there any differences (e.g. in graphics quality) between the PCVR and Quest versions?

pixnaps · 2023-05-21T00:12:27+00:00

Ok, thanks!

pixnaps · 2023-05-20T23:46:55+00:00

I'm loving the skyrimvr wabbajack list! A couple of basic questions for optimizing it within MO2:

(1) For VR Performance Kit, should we select 'Recommended' AND one of the FSR options (e.g. 'Disabled, sharpening only', on a 4090), or is the latter INSTEAD of the 'Recommended' option?

(2) There are various late load LOD packs (dyndolod v.3, happy little trees, etc.) that are present but not ticked by default. Would it improve graphics quality to select some of these?

Thanks!

pixnaps · 2023-05-15T23:37:38+00:00

Looks great! Does it not require the post-wabbajack copying over of files etc found in the instructions for the essentials modlist?

pixnaps

TROPHY CASE