tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post547517068710723793..comments2023-10-29T10:32:36.914-04:00Comments on Philosophy, et cetera: Dimensions of DesireRichard Y Chappellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-49618454752051851872008-02-14T14:39:00.000-05:002008-02-14T14:39:00.000-05:00There's fortunately more to evolutionary theory th...There's fortunately more to evolutionary theory than the empty claim that the fittest survive. But what more is there to BDI? How does it help us construct testable hypotheses (any better than the weaker claim that desires have motivational force)?<BR/><BR/>(The physical law example is different. It is not 'trivial', but rather Moorean: better supported or less likely to be mistaken than any isolated measurement to the contrary.)Richard Y Chappellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-23142820897562541052008-02-12T21:45:00.000-05:002008-02-12T21:45:00.000-05:00Your argument here is like the argument that says ...Your argument here is like the argument that says that tries to defeat the theory of evolution by saying that it is circular. Evolution concerns itself with the survival of the fittest. However, the fittest is defined as those that survive. In this sense, the theory of evolution is trivial. If, instead, we try to adopt some independent standard of 'fittest', whatever standard we may try to adopt, renders the theory of evolution false.<BR/><BR/>The answer is that 'survival of the fittest' is not, itself, a testable hypothesis. It is a principle from which testable hypothesi can be constructed.<BR/><BR/>Again, it works like the principle that the acceleration on a body is equal to the vector sum of the forces acting on it. We can call this 'trivial' in virtue of the fact that if we ever found a body not accelerating according to the vector sums acting upon it, we would simply hypothesize another force. Indeed, that is what we do - and is exactly how scientists have come to postulate dark matter and dark energy.Alonzo Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-47292170820775720492008-02-09T16:13:00.000-05:002008-02-09T16:13:00.000-05:00Well, I think the common-sense notion of desire st...Well, I think the common-sense notion of desire strength is more a matter of felt intensity than behavioural impact, so BDI is just poor conceptual analysis if it is meant to reveal "what we mean" in our ordinary use of these terms. Perhaps it is meant instead to stipulatively introduce a new technical term. But it does not seem to be a term that can do any useful theoretical work, for the reason I pointed out: BDI implies that we cannot tell what desires someone has until we see which act they perform. 'Desires' here are not states with any independent existence. They do no play any deep explanatory role. They're merely attributions that we make after the fact. (What's the phrase... a 'dormitus virtus' explanation? You know, that faculty that "explains" why we fall sleep.)Richard Y Chappellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-32638494414642103472008-02-09T16:00:00.000-05:002008-02-09T16:00:00.000-05:00Since when are definitions pointless? If BDI tell...Since when are definitions pointless? If BDI tells us nothing more than what we mean by "strength" when speaking of desires, isn't it still useful to know that that's what we mean so that we won't confuse it with other things (like the intensity of subjective feeling you allude to, for example)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-10267059088480275552008-02-08T16:00:00.000-05:002008-02-08T16:00:00.000-05:00Maybe in fields that relate to psychology we shoul...Maybe in fields that relate to psychology we should abandon the use of the word "always". Always is for hard scientists. Psychologists get to say "tends to" or "in most cases".Geniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11624496692217466430noreply@blogger.com