Recent Responses
How responsible are we for the things we do by accident? I was recently on the phone with my sister, and she was telling me how she accidentally left the tap on in her apartment, which flooded the kitchen and damaged the cupboards and floor. She was extremely ashamed of herself, but she was even more upset that her boyfriend got angry at her for doing so, since she says she didn't intend to leave the tap running (and I'm inclined to believe her; why should she?). It's clear she is responsible, in a causal and financial way, for the damages, but is she morally responsible in such a way that justifies anger or punishment against her, despite the fact that she had no ill intent? Or does intent not matter in such cases?
Eddy Nahmias
July 12, 2012
(changed July 12, 2012)
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Assuming one doesn't take the skeptical view that no one is really responsible for anything (in the sense of justifiably deserving anger, punishment, etc.), then I think the answer to your question is that we are responsible for bad outcomes we do not intentionally bring about if we were negligent... Read more
Who are some modern philosophers that argue for either dualism or the idea that mind is a nonphysical substance?
William Rapaport
July 13, 2012
(changed July 13, 2012)
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Here's another contemporary philosopher you might want to look into: Galen Strawson--"I take physicalism to be the view that every real, concrete phenomenon in the universe is physical. …[O]ne thing is absolutely clear. You're…not a real physicalist, if you deny the existence of the phenomen... Read more
why do we associate different colors with different things? for example, blue is consistently associated with either feeling 'down' or 'relaxed'. black, while considered fashionable is generally considered a morose color. so, why do we feel a need to attribute certain colors to certain states of mind? if color is just a question of wavelengths, (etc) then why does society do this? - Farris, age 26
Peter S. Fosl
July 11, 2012
(changed July 11, 2012)
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This is largely an empirical and psychological rather than a philosophical or conceptual question. I suspect that there are both natural and social reasons for the association. I can think of how some cultures use white for mourning while others black, how some associate red with luck and good f... Read more
How should we distinguish between personal memories of our past (what psychologists call episodic memory) and the imagination? Aren't the mental states at the heart of both phenomena fundamentally the same?
Peter S. Fosl
July 11, 2012
(changed July 11, 2012)
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One might say, in fact, that memory is part of our imaginative capacity, or at least dependent upon our imaginative capacity to the extent it is composed of imaginative mental phenomena. One way to distinguish memories from other imaginative events, then, as Oliver Leeman suggests, is by their ep... Read more
I've read that Fichte believed we all a part of a universal mind and that our minds more than just being subjects in the world are the co-creators of nature. Does he mean that in the way a new age sort might take it to mean that we are creating reality at our own will?
Peter S. Fosl
July 11, 2012
(changed July 11, 2012)
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I suppose it depends upon what you mean by the phrase "in the way" when you say "in the way a new age sort might take it to mean." If by "in the way" you mean as a mind that can be determined through our individual choices or individual wishes, then no. Fichte's "mind" is not reducible or determ... Read more
In "The Little Prince" by Antoine de saint Exupery, there's a quotation like this: "You should be responsible for something you've tamed." I think it could be interpreted that, you have to be responsible towards someone you've already made fall in love (with you). But in what extend should we care so much towards people who love us? Especially if we do not feel the love for them.
Thomas Pogge
July 8, 2012
(changed July 8, 2012)
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A person in love with you is likely to be vulnerable to you, easy prey for your abuse and exploitation. Your first responsibility toward the person you have made fall in love with you is the responsibility not to take advantage of this person's special vulnerability to you. This responsibility is al... Read more
Which school of philosophy was it that suggested that your private life and public life should be compartmentalized? In other words, don't bring your work home with you, and don't let your domestic issues impact your work. I think it was the stoics, but I am not sure. Can you help?
Oliver Leaman
July 8, 2012
(changed July 8, 2012)
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I don't think it was the Stoics, and this sort of compartmentalization would be disapproved of by most philosophers, as far as I can see. It is the sort of thing we tend to condemn, like people doing something of which they should be thoroughly ashamed at work and then coming home and ignoring it o... Read more
How should we distinguish between personal memories of our past (what psychologists call episodic memory) and the imagination? Aren't the mental states at the heart of both phenomena fundamentally the same?
Peter S. Fosl
July 11, 2012
(changed July 11, 2012)
Permalink
One might say, in fact, that memory is part of our imaginative capacity, or at least dependent upon our imaginative capacity to the extent it is composed of imaginative mental phenomena. One way to distinguish memories from other imaginative events, then, as Oliver Leeman suggests, is by their ep... Read more
There is a tribe where people assume that short men are short because they were sexually loose during adolescence and a consequence they have a lower status within their society. We moderns like to think we are more rational. "Our modern society is not like that," but many people still adhere to irrational beliefs which our central to our society. "People are poor because they didn't work hard enough" for example. Will philosophy help us to attain a more rational, equitable, tolerant, and compassionate culture? If not what will? I've read stuff from within cultural criticism but I can't see how that stuff will make our culture better because most of it seems kind of "out there."
Oliver Leaman
July 8, 2012
(changed July 8, 2012)
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I don't know why you assume that either of these false beliefs is irrational. They are certainly not true but they could be and no doubt there is some argument and theory of which they could be a part and play a role. They are not arguments which philosophy can address directly, since they are biol... Read more
why do we associate different colors with different things? for example, blue is consistently associated with either feeling 'down' or 'relaxed'. black, while considered fashionable is generally considered a morose color. so, why do we feel a need to attribute certain colors to certain states of mind? if color is just a question of wavelengths, (etc) then why does society do this? - Farris, age 26
Peter S. Fosl
July 11, 2012
(changed July 11, 2012)
Permalink
This is largely an empirical and psychological rather than a philosophical or conceptual question. I suspect that there are both natural and social reasons for the association. I can think of how some cultures use white for mourning while others black, how some associate red with luck and good f... Read more