Recent Responses
I was with a man for a month. We chatted a lot, had so much fun. But at the end we decided that this relationship would not work because it is morally wrong in our religion. This is already 2 years since then, and I eventually missed him. But day by day I felt that what I miss is him as a friend. I realized that he also missed me, but as a lover (I know this from friends). I really want to meet him, start a fun conversation, but I think it will trouble him, because I do not want to be with him anymore. Do you think I should just step out of his life for the sake of protecting his feeling? Or do I have any responsibility to help him move on, forgetting me? If so, how?
Charles Taliaferro
July 6, 2012
(changed July 6, 2012)
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This is such a personal matter, I have no right to reply, but your question(s) are hard to resist. There is no "official" philosophy of love out there for us all to consult. Still, philosophers in the past have suggested a few things that might be helpful. First, you might apply the "golde... Read more
Do you need an earlier perception to have a memory of something?
Charles Taliaferro
July 6, 2012
(changed July 6, 2012)
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Perhaps one might well claim that one has to have some prior experience ("experience" being broader than "perception") in order to have memory. One might remember prior thoughts, abstract propositions or a sensation rather than a full perception. Memory seems (by definition) to be about the... Read more
is reason infallible? can reason alone help us understand everything about all aspects of humanity and life?
Stephen Maitzen
July 6, 2012
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Your questions are so terse that I can't be confident I'm interpreting them as you intended. But I'm inclined to answer them "Yes" and "Yes."
If by "reason" you mean "deductively valid reasoning," then reason is infallible in the sense that it's guaranteed never to lead us from truth to falsity.... Read more
Apologies if this has been asked before, but I would like to inquire as to whether or not the application of the word "metaphysics" to New Age studies is in actuality inappropriate and inaccurate. Many New Agers tend to enjoy labeling things such as "energy healing" or "the metaphysical properties of stones" (i.e. helping you sleep, grounding, clarity, etc) as metaphysics when most of them probably have never even read Aristotle's metaphysics, much less ever heard of it. Certainly, Aristotle's book would not be found in the metaphysical section! So, I ask: is interpreting the prefix "meta" in "metaphysics" as "beyond" in a literal sense (as in non-physical) grossly inaccurate? Should New Agers find another word to describe their studies?
Allen Stairs
July 5, 2012
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The word "metaphysics" wasn't actually used by Aristotle, but was a label applied later to a set of writing that seemed to come "after" rather than "beyond" in some reasonable ordering of topics. What we philosophers call "metaphysics" these days covers a broad swath of territory and includes a vari... Read more
Only rarely is there a movie that comes out where there is a main female character who is involved is some kind of plot that doesn't involve romantic entanglements with men. If the movie looks good then I will go see it, but it occurs to me that one of the reasons that there aren't many movies like that is because women aren't as interested in them. Could it be that feminism has it wrong when it tries to place it sole focus on blaming men for being chauvinistic pigs rather than working to encourage a vision of womanhood that is more expansive? Obviously feminism does try to do that but at the same time I don't think its directly men's fault if woman don't respond to that message.
Richard Heck
July 5, 2012
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I guess the obvious question is whether there is any actual evidence that women aren't interested in movies that in which the main female character isn't romantically involved with some man. I'd rather suspect the opposite: That it's men who won't be interested, if the woman isn't presented as a sex... Read more
Is AskPhilosopher.org an anti-intellectual website because it is predicated on the idea that basic questions about life can be answered in two easy-to-read paragraphs via a panel of philosophers?
Eddy Nahmias
July 5, 2012
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Well, I don't see any evidence that AskPhilosophers.org or the philosophers on the panel think they are answering the big questions in two paragraphs. Most of the responses suggest the beginnings of an answer, one or two of the many answers that philosophers have offered, more questions, further re... Read more
To what extent did Heidegger's 'Being and Time' influence Sartre's ideas and works?
Charles Taliaferro
July 4, 2012
(changed July 4, 2012)
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Good question. I think there is considerable influence: Heidegger's notions of contingency, authenticity, death, our "thrownness" into being, the importance of time or temporality in our identity, are all in play in Sartre's Being and Nothingness. In my view, there is something magisterial a... Read more
In terms of dreams, do humans have any insight as to what causes them? For example, if someone were to have a reoccurring dream, is there any humanly possible way of knowing why this is? Are they simply a reflection of daily life, an indicator as to what our future holds, or is it our brains way of forgetting that certain things ever happened?
Allen Stairs
July 4, 2012
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Your question is an interesting one, but on one reading not one a philosopher has any particular claim to being able to answer. Whatever we know about the causes and function of dreams, we presumably know on the basis of empirical investigation—in psychology and/or neuroscience, most likely.That sai... Read more
Suppose I behave altruistically, because I believe that doing so will help create a better community for all - and because I want to live in such a community. Am I acting according to altruism or egoism? Or are the two actually compatible?
Gordon Marino
July 1, 2012
(changed July 1, 2012)
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I agree with Professor Smith that in this context concepts like altruistic and egoist are a recipe for confusion. Clearly, if your only intention were to improve the community for your own benefit -- like working on your house or something --- then it would be egoistic but it would be hard to imagi... Read more
Does the liberal idea which is such a significant part of our modern conception of democracy that all people are created equal and are therefor endowed with the same rights have a philosophical or an empirical foundation? I've noticed it took a while for this concept to develop even though it has a pretty clearly written out partial foundation within the constitution of the U.S. "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal" Did the "founders" believe despite other powers that they couldn't control that slavery should be banned under this principle? I don't see how such a thing is self-evident and anyhow do we really think that severely mentally challenged people have the same rights for example? I even know that in at least one state some people can be adjudicated as unfit to vote - although I personally think that as a matter of principle even people who are very mentally challenged should be able to vote. But I think that there are other realms where very mentally challenged people do not have the same rights - but then there is a certain circularity there isn't there? I mean if not everybody has the right to something then we call it a privilege and not a right. But I think that some severely mentally challenged people do not have the same right to engage in contractual agreements.
Allen Stairs
June 28, 2012
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You've raised a good and complicated question. Let's leave the word "created" aside, since if it has its religious meaning, many people won't find it self-evident.
I take the claim that "all men are equal" to be a way of saying what philosophers put this way: "All persons are entitled to equal m... Read more