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I have a question about what one might call "scientific astrology." "Astrology" as a predictive indicator, let's assume for discussion, has been discredited. "Astrology" as a coincident indicator, perhaps, let's not be too hasty. Imagine first an agrarian society barely above subsistence level. In the spring, everyone is out in the fields, including newborn infants in their equivalent of strollers or baby seats. In the winter, everyone is indoors all day. Recent psychological evidence seems to indicate that the development of people's personalities might be heavily influenced by their early childhood environment. So wouldn't the conjunction of these two observations provide a grounds upon which some form of astrology - not as causative, but as correlative - might actually have empirical evidence to support it?

Miriam Solomon November 8, 2012 (changed November 8, 2012) Permalink You suggest that personality might be dependent on the time of year at which one is born, but for reasons other than the positions of the stars. That's a reasonable hypothesis with various possible mechanisms (you suggest the annual cycles of indoor and outdoor living plus some unstated h... Read more

Science

I have a question about what one might call "scientific astrology." "Astrology" as a predictive indicator, let's assume for discussion, has been discredited. "Astrology" as a coincident indicator, perhaps, let's not be too hasty. Imagine first an agrarian society barely above subsistence level. In the spring, everyone is out in the fields, including newborn infants in their equivalent of strollers or baby seats. In the winter, everyone is indoors all day. Recent psychological evidence seems to indicate that the development of people's personalities might be heavily influenced by their early childhood environment. So wouldn't the conjunction of these two observations provide a grounds upon which some form of astrology - not as causative, but as correlative - might actually have empirical evidence to support it?

Freedom

I have begun reading Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow. He admits that system 1 can react before system becomes conscious of a particular behavior. Once system 2 becomes aware, however, it can modify system 1's response based on reasoning, additional evidence, past experience, etc. Is there any value in thinking of system 2 as the seat of free will (I choose not to accept system 1's acceptance of a "trick question" fallacy)? If so, and we agree that systems 1 & 2 are aspects of one mind, does it follow that we have addressed Harris's claim that free will is an illusion?

Eddy Nahmias November 8, 2012 (changed November 8, 2012) Permalink The brief answer is yes, I think it makes a lot of sense to think of something like system 2 as the seat of free, autonomous, and responsible action. And if we do--that is, if we think that our capacities for conscious reasoning and self-control are ultimately capacities instantiated in our... Read more

Language

My question is about Rigid Designators. I enjoyed reading Kripke a lot, but I find this concept hard to understand. According to Kripke, a rigid designator refers to, or picks up, the same thing in every possible world. But this way of defining, if it is defining at all, rigid designators is too vague for me to understand. Take 'pain' as an example. Since there are many debates over what pain is (that is, is it a illusion, is it purely physical, it is purely mental, or it is mental and physical etc.), how can it still be a rigid designator if we do not even know what it picks up in our actual world? It could be argue that even though we do not know what it picks up in this world as long as it picks up the same thing in every possible world it is still a rigid designator. But indeed, what would guarantee that it could pick up the same thing?

Andrew Pessin November 5, 2012 (changed November 5, 2012) Permalink I'm no expert here, but my recollection is that Kripke reminds us/warns us to avoid the following picture: that we somehow glance into all the many possible worlds and have the task of figuring out which items, in those worlds, are designated by our terms. That would be impossible (for more... Read more

Ethics Logic

Is there a logical explanation for why one ought to be altruistic? Someone tried to logically prove to me why one ought to be altruistic. I found a list of logical fallacies here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies and I'd like to know which one's apply to what he wrote. This is what he wrote... "You should be altruistic because in the long run it will be beneficial not only to society, but also to yourself. Being altruistic fosters and encourages a society in which people help those in need of help, which ultimately means you will be helped when you need it. Conversely, altruism also encourages a society where negative acts against others are discouraged, meaning for yourself that you are less likely to be attacked, stolen from, killed, raped, etc. On the evolutionary level it means that a society that protects and helps each other, and does not ransack his fellow man whenever he deems it beneficial to himself in the short run, has a greater chance of survival, both for the group as a whole, as well as for the individual within that group, which in the end leads to a much increased probability of reproduction, which is the ultimate evolutionary goal of any individual being." Thank You.

Allen Stairs November 3, 2012 (changed November 3, 2012) Permalink There are lots of questions we can ask about this argument, but I'd suggest that trying to shoehorn the issues into specific named fallacies isn't as helpful as just looking for places where the argument raises questions.. (It's interesting that in my experience, at least, philosophers invok... Read more

Philosophers

what is the difference between Kant's "things in themselves" and Locke's secondary qualities? (I don't see the "real" difference other than semantics). thanks, Todd

Thomas Pogge November 1, 2012 (changed November 1, 2012) Permalink Secondary qualities are properties that a thing appears topossess for certain observers of this thing. On reflection, however, secondaryqualities turn out to be ways in which certain observers are affected by thething in question. Colors are an example. Colors are not genuine propertiesinher... Read more

Education

I have done B.Tech in Computer Science, and Masters in Humanities (specialization in Ontology). Can you kindly suggest me some places where I can do a Ph.D which combines both these fields?

William Rapaport November 1, 2012 (changed November 1, 2012) Permalink I don't know what you mean by "ontology", which can refer to either the branch of philosophy (metaphysics) that is concerned with existence or the branch of artificial intelligence that is concerned with knowledge representation techniques for organizing information (both of those charac... Read more

Logic

Another application of the ad hominem fallacy questions... Let's say there is an expert who holds a doctorate and masters in their field of specialty. They have worked in their field for 30+ years. They have received grants from government sources, but also the private sector (which as I understand, is not uncommon). They are peer reviewed and published. Now let's say that they present a study, with all its evidences and reasoning. But one of the associations this expert is affiliated with has a particular worldview. It is claimed, that because of that affiliation, there exists a conflict of interest and a strongly expressed bias (perhaps a mission statement or motto). As a result, this expert cannot be trusted, has a significant loss of credibility, and the reasoning and evidences provided in any study therefore, should be thrown out, it does not need to be addressed or evaluated. To me, it seems rather odd. The argument presented ought to be evaluated as if it is made anonymously. The argument, study, research ought to stand or fall on its own merits. But because the claim maker here (the field expert) is associated with a particular organization, all work done, conclusion, research, testimony, opinions are less credible and do not need to be addressed if there are competing conclusions, research, testimonies, opinions, etc... if they have no affiliations with biased organizations. So is the ad hominem fallacy being committed here? Or is it the case that not all arguments actually need to be evaluated and instead, there are times when we can instead, simply attack the argument maker?

Charles Taliaferro November 1, 2012 (changed November 1, 2012) Permalink I am inclined to agree with you that arguments and evidence need to be evaluated on their own terms and not dismissed out of hand on the grounds that the "expert" is affiliated with an institution that has a worldview that is thought to be biased or somehow discredited. So, a biologis... Read more

Ethics

What's wrong with "self-plagiarism"?

Charles Taliaferro November 1, 2012 (changed November 1, 2012) Permalink Great question! At first blush, "self-plagiarism" seems absurd, like forging one's own signature or stealing from oneself. But just as we can imagine odd circumstances when even these other seemingly absurd cases might be attempted (imagine I have amnesia and forgotten I am Charles T... Read more

Ethics

What's wrong with "self-plagiarism"?

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