Rebecca Goldstein appears to be on a campaign to defend philosophy. In this essay, she defends its ability to make progress, and questions whether it should be lumped in with the humanities. (I wonder what the humanities folks will think of that.) Philosophy was the first academic field; the founder of the Academy was Plato. … Continue reading Is Philosophy Obsolete? – The Chronicle Review
Tag: Philosophy
The Sniper – Existential Comics
The profound thoughts of a sniper. Click through to read the whole thing. via The Sniper - Existential Comics.
Dungeons & Dragons & Philosophers – Existential Comics
Probably only amusing if you know something about both philosophy and D&D. Click though for the full version. via Dungeons & Dragons & Philosophers - Existential Comics.
The value of history
Tom Chivers has a particularly misguided post up The Telegraph arguing that science is better than history. Given how under siege many in the humanities feel themselves to be today, this post is unnecessarily adversarial. Chivers does claim to recognize that history is a valuable endeavor (albeit limited in his view), but argues that if you … Continue reading The value of history
The fine tuning “problem”
An interesting article byJonathan Borwein and David H. Bailey on why science needs philosophy. When renowned scientists now talk seriously about millions of multiverses, the old question “are we alone?” gets a whole new meaning. Our ever-expanding universe is incomprehensibly large – and its rate of growth is apparently accelerating – but if so it’s … Continue reading The fine tuning “problem”
How do you separate the objective from the subjective?
So, I'm a skeptic, and I've had my share of debates on comment threads with people about purported phenomena without scientific evidence. One of the claims often asserted is that so many people have experienced it, there must be something there. It's not unusual for these debates to get mired in epistemological fights about how … Continue reading How do you separate the objective from the subjective?
The difference between life and machine
Addy Pross has an interesting post up at HuffPost looking at what actually makes life...life. Most of us recognize that there is a fundamental difference between mechanical objects designed and created by man, no matter how sophisticated, and the naturally derived complexity of living things. In fact, my granddaughter, when she was just 2, already … Continue reading The difference between life and machine
The long reach of reason
A cool TED cartoon video of Rebecca Goldstein and Steven Pinker discussing reason and its effects on history. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk7gKixqVNU I've said it before, but just because reason is a means to an end, as they note Hume observed, doesn't take away its value. Acknowledging it only gives us a healthy, and reasonable, awareness of its … Continue reading The long reach of reason
Is consciousness in control? Does it matter?
A new scientific paper claims to describe an experiment that shows that consciousness controls our actions. From the paper: These results indicate that conscious intentions govern motor function… until today, it was unclear whether conscious motor intention exists prior to movement, or whether the brain constructs such an intention after movement initiation. The Neuroskeptic takes … Continue reading Is consciousness in control? Does it matter?
The phrase “is an illusion” is overused
The March 6 episode of the Inquiring Minds podcast interviewed Jennifer Oullette to talk about her latest book, 'Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self '. During the interview, Chris Mooney asked her if the self is an illusion. I was impressed that Oullette downplayed the phrase. The self is not what … Continue reading The phrase “is an illusion” is overused
SelfAwarePatterns 