Philosophy Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [change]

32 questions
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Is Heraclitus really a Mobilist?

I learned that Heraclitus stressed the importance of change and the ephemeral nature of things in the cosmos. However, it seems that Heraclitus refers to a "logos": The opening of Heraclitus' book refers to a “logos which holds forever.”[3] There…
Delforge
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How could being follow action?

Some philosophers have denied the philosophical axiom "Agere sequitur esse"* ("'To act' follows from 'to be'"). What reasons do they give for thinking that action precedes (logically? ontologically? temporally?) being? How can there be action…
Geremia
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Is all change movement?

Is there a change in the universe that cannot be reduced to movement? One counter-example should be enough. :) Heat is a type of change that was once thought to be qualitative, but is now realized to be quantitative, the movement of particles. So…
Olle Härstedt
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Does the act-potency distinction lead to Meinong's jungle?

The Aristotelian-Thomistic distinction of act-potency is, among other things, supposed to solve Parmenides' paradoxes of change. Since change requires something non-existent popping into existence ex nihilo (as far as I can tell, this is the case…
Adam Sharpe
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Is time not perceivable without motion or change?

As kind of a chicken or the egg question, does motion come before time? Doesn’t motion allow time to exist and no motion negate time from existing? If everything in the universe were completely frozen permanently, never capable of changing in…
Lecifer
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Question About Shoemaker's Thought Experiment (Time Without Change)

In his argument that time intervals can exist without change, Shoemaker gives us an interesting thought experiment. For those unfamiliar, here it is: Assume that an entire universe is divided into three parts -- A, B, and C. Every 3 years,…
N. Bar
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Does time exist/is fundamental in such a scenario?

Suppose you have nothing, but only a thing X which doesn't change at all, is there time? How would you say how many seconds/units of time have passed when there is only the thing X i.e. static too, and not any reference (like speed of light is…
Siddharth Chakravarty
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In Thomism, why is prime matter the only thing that is purely potential?

Assuming I understand the doctrine correctly, the concept of prime matter is posited by Aquinas and those in the Aristotelian-Thomist tradition in order to explain substantial change. To explain how one substance can go out of existence while…
CaptainCH
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Is change meaningful, in the sense of a life having or lacking meaning?

Is change meaningful, in the sense of a life having or lacking meaning? This is a follow up to my question about whether change is instrumentally valuable, though that was closed, so I have low expectations for this one too. By meaningful, I am…
user90066
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5 answers

Is there a distinction between one iteration and multiple iterations of Sleeping Beauty Problem?

Take two set-ups of the Sleeping Beauty experiment Set-up 1 The experiment is performed once. What is the probability that a random awakening corresponds to Heads? Set-up 2 The experiment is repeated n times. The memory is erased every day…
Ryder Rude
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Is moral responsibility consistent from an ontological perspective of change?

Let a being be arbitrary, suppose that this being has the capacity to be morally responsible. (EDIT 2) Regardless of group morality, but assume this being is in a moral environment with no moral contradictions (at least a priori). (EDIT 3) I want to…
random_user
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Is process philosophy at odds with orthodox Christian theology?

Process philosophy regards change, as opposed to stasis, as the basis of reality. Does this contradict orthodox Christian theology, such as Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and the various Protestant denominations, or could the former be derived from the…
user43593
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Does Tegmark's hypothesis include dynamical mathematical structures?

Tegmark's hypothesis is the idea that mathematical structures are physical and thus have physical existence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_universe_hypothesis) Zuse's thesis says that the universe is fundamentally analogous to a…
Niein Ofinfo
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What exactly is the 'potential' that is actualized in Aristotelian metaphysics?

From my understanding, Aristotelian metaphysics uses the concepts of potentiality and actuality to explain change. Since being cannot come from non-being, when change occurs a potential is simply being actualized. However, what exactly is a…
Chris
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What are the best arguments for the defense of the "principle of motion"?

How would someone (I would love to hear how Aquinas and/or Aristotle would) defend the principle of motion (that is, whatever is changed is changed by another or only actual being can actualize potency)? Could it be reduced to the principle of…
Thom
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