I was a teenage logical positivist

[Santino]

Where's that from?

Being and Time (I think).

 

[TruXta]

Referring to the type of statement you made I gather?

 

[Santino]

Heidegger was referring to proofs of the existence of the external world.

 

[phildwyer]

He was referring to proofs of the existence of the external world.

I was indeed.

My point is that there can be no such proofs.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

There appears to be a lot of furious agreement on this thread at the minute.

 

[TruXta]

I never took you for a German nazi, dwyer. Anyway, why should there be a proof of that? Should you have to prove that you exist?

 

[Santino]

There appears to be a lot of furious agreement on this thread at the minute.

No, fuck YOU.

 

[Santino]

You might want to imagine a smiley in there somewhere.

 

[ItWillNeverWork]

Prove that we can be certain that "stuff exists."

Can I give this one a shot? The denial of the statement 'stuff exists' would be at the same time a demonstration of stuff's existence. This is because a denier is a member of the set stuff. A simple proof by contradiction, really.

 

[phildwyer]

Can I give this one a shot? The denial of the statement 'stuff exists' would be at the same time a demonstration of stuff's existence. This is because a denier is a member of the set stuff. A simple proof by contradiction, really.

You fucking bastard.

 

[ItWillNeverWork]

Not bad for 5am, even if I do say so myself. Although saying that, some fancy-pants McDoogle will no doubt come along and show otherwise.

Good morning, btw.

 

[phildwyer]

Not bad for 5am, even if I do say so myself. Although saying that, some fancy-pants McDoogle will no doubt come along and show otherwise.

Good morning, btw.

Cheers, and ta. Keep up the good work...

 

[song_lyric]

i think it's called "the received view".

 

[purves grundy]

New book out:

The Qualimosans are a race that resembles blue lobsters mated with grasshoppers. Two of them—Volavont and Wulawand—are en route to Earth to present Kurt with an award for his logical positivism, the supremely rationalist creed they honor. All of this is conveyed unexpectedly to Kurt right over the Motorola TV set they have commandeered. Sure enough, the aliens actually arrive, appear live on NBC (taken by the audience to be expertly made-up imposters), and present Kurt with the award. But a hitch ensues: they have also tuned into another show titled Not by Bread Alone, a religious hour scripted by Kurt’s dream girl, Connie Osborne. Abominating superstition, the aliens have vowed to kill every loyal viewer of the sacred show via their own living-room television-sets-turned-death-ray-emitters. Unless, that is, Kurt and Connie can trick the Qualimosans by swiftly rejiggering the broadcast into an acceptably heretical anti-religious lampoon..

The Madonna and the Starship

James Morrow
(Tachyon Publications 978-1-61696-159-6, $14.95, 179pp, trade paperback) June 2014

http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2014/06/paul-di-filippo-reviews-james-morrow/

 

[purves grundy]

Moritz Schlick, 'Leader' of the Wiener Kreis, born this day, 1882.

Handsome lad.