Recent Responses

Is it ethical to kill someone in self-defense? My instinct was yes at first, but upon further reflection, in a situation where it's "you or them", I can't seem to think of a reason to kill someone in self-defense, other than the fact that you simply want to live. After all, you're still taking a human life. (Also if you could explain why it is or isn't ethical would help me out a lot thanks!)

Stephen Maitzen May 17, 2012 (changed May 17, 2012) Permalink My colleagues' examples show me that my intuitions aren't thoroughly consequentialist. I think an innocent person (and maybe any person) always has a right to lethal self-defense if needed to avoid a lethal threat. An innocent person's (and maybe any person's) sacrificing his/her life is always... Read more

Education Philosophy

I am a humanities teacher teaching Philosophy around the question of what does it mean to be human? I am hoping to find some age appropriate readings/ videos that discuss the basics of the philosophical movement. Can anyone help me? Thanks

Jonathan Westphal April 19, 2012 (changed April 19, 2012) Permalink How about Leslie Stevenson's Ten Theories of Human Nature? I have had good luck teaching freshmen with this, doing a course called "Human Nature". It's on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Ten-Theories-Human-Nature-ebook/dp/B003F3PN1KGood luck with the class! Log in to... Read more

Consciousness

Is it considered possible to be consciously aware of an object or thought without experiencing feelings, or is "feelings" just another word for conscious awareness?. If this question can't be dismissed, which philosophers have explored it?

Bette Manter May 23, 2012 (changed May 23, 2012) Permalink I have no expertise on zombies or blindsight, but there is a wondrous episode on RadioLab.org in their archives entitled "Words." It raises more questions than answers, but that is what we philosophers do, is it not? bjm Log in to post comments

Philosophers

Is there any general concern among academic philosophers that Richard Dawkins' amateurish treatment of philosophy in 'The God Delusion' might be giving the false impression to the general public that complex debates in the philosophy of religion can be knocked down in a few pages of popular writing? Surely this is highly misleading, and obscures deep debates in academic philosophy.

Or even after a difficult day Stephen Maitzen April 19, 2012 (changed May 28, 2015) Permalink Or even after a difficult day doing theoretical cosmology, to judge from what physicist Lawrence Krauss says about his new book, A Universe from Nothing, in an online interview with Sam Harris. Choice quotations: "Modern science...has changed completely our concept... Read more

Ethics

My (now-ex) girlfriend recently took up heroin use, which led to the end of the relationship, mainly because of the deception she practised about it and the emotionally manipulative/aggressive reactions when it turns out she was actually lying, but also because I just don't find it intelligible as a life decision to make and lost all respect for her. However, when she asks a me to justify WHY I think it's dumb, why it bothers me, why it hurts me to see her do this, and why I'm against it, I find it hard to come up with a logical reason. She can just say that 'well, there's nothing else to do, so why shouldn't I, and why should you care?', and all I can come up with 'Look, it's just how I feel, it's what I believe and if it's not obvious to you then I can't explain it.' This feels less than satisfactory. She has said, and there is some evidence for this, that alcohol is worse than heroin. However I think the studies that show this are more related to frequency and wide-spread abuse of alcohol, compared to the relatively low usage of heroin in society. And heroin is surely FAR more physically addictive in a much shorter time than alcohol is, and has a large impact on behaviour that impacts those close to the user - the trust and security of the social relationship is immediately no longer assured, so there ARE ethical implications aren't there? Can my objections and negative feelings associated with her new addiction be stated in terms of moral logic? Is demanding 'proof' and the reasons for my feelings, which are totally subjective, void in the first place? Is heroin use logical justifiable because of boredom and as an enjoyable pastime unrelated to serious illness? The fact that I have subjective feelings COULD be the result of unexamined assumptions about heroin use and the stigma associated with it, OR it could be that there are very good reasons to feel this, even though I haven't quite researched the way to present the reasoning in a logically consistent way. I am also aware that she is just probably going to use any way to justify her choice and make me seem like a jerk for not supporting her or having respect or compassion for her decision, but it is more for my own peace of mind than to score points against her that I want to resolve this. My other question is, given that we have to live together until we can organise other places to live, do I have a right to protect myself from the imagined and possible consequences of her behaviour (possible unreliability in paying the rent or other bills, possible betrayal through theft) by reading her private messages? I think she has the right to privacy, but I also have the right to protect myself from being lied to. What's the line?

Gordon Marino April 19, 2012 (changed April 19, 2012) Permalink I think you are over thinking this one a lot--- it might be an argument against philosophy if the practice of philosophy encouraged you to think that maybe heroin isn't so bad... I don't know about the rights language here but if this is someone you care deeply about you have good reason to fee... Read more

Education Philosophy

I am a humanities teacher teaching Philosophy around the question of what does it mean to be human? I am hoping to find some age appropriate readings/ videos that discuss the basics of the philosophical movement. Can anyone help me? Thanks

Philosophers

Is there any general concern among academic philosophers that Richard Dawkins' amateurish treatment of philosophy in 'The God Delusion' might be giving the false impression to the general public that complex debates in the philosophy of religion can be knocked down in a few pages of popular writing? Surely this is highly misleading, and obscures deep debates in academic philosophy.

Ethics

Is it ethical to kill someone in self-defense? My instinct was yes at first, but upon further reflection, in a situation where it's "you or them", I can't seem to think of a reason to kill someone in self-defense, other than the fact that you simply want to live. After all, you're still taking a human life. (Also if you could explain why it is or isn't ethical would help me out a lot thanks!)

Freedom

Hierarchical compatiblism says that I have free will if I have the will I want to have. The theory claims to show that my desires can be up to me. I understand how the theory improves upon classic compatiblism by showing that the absence of external constraint is not sufficient for freedom. But it is unclear to me how second order desires or volitions are genuinely up to me if they are causally necessitated by the relevant laws of nature and background conditions. Can any form of compatiblism, however sophisticated, survive the scrutiny of hard determinism?

Stephen Maitzen April 19, 2012 (changed April 19, 2012) Permalink You wrote, "But it is unclear to me how second order desires or volitions are genuinely up to me if they are causally necessitated by the relevant laws of nature and background conditions." Recall that, for compatibilists, how I act can in the relevant sense be up to me even if how I act is... Read more

Feminism

Could you write philosophical books on women? I would like to read what philosophers think about women. It does not matter, it can be a book, extract. What classical philosophers think about women?

Charles Taliaferro April 15, 2012 (changed April 15, 2012) Permalink Good question! First, there have almost always been women in philosophy in the west, though their status has been very difficult owing to Patriarchy. There is an excellent four volume work called A History of Women in Philosophy, published by Springe. This largely addresses what women p... Read more

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