Recent Responses
What is the accepted date for the setting of Plato's Phaedrus and when was it written?
Thomas Pogge
October 12, 2010
(changed October 12, 2010)
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This took a bit of homework and consulting to find out.
Many scholars seem to think that there may not be a determinate date for the setting of the Phaedrus as Plato was not committed to historical accuracy and ready to create a composite from different times to suit his dialectical purpose... Read more
Is the natural human body considered art? I guess one would have to define art first, and in what context it is being called art. Also, who is the artist? The creators of the human, or the human? Perhaps art is simply creation with creative intent. Would the parents be the sculptors where the genes would create a piece of art, or is it only a canvas they created? What would some arguments be, for and against this idea?
Charles Taliaferro
October 10, 2010
(changed October 10, 2010)
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Well, some theists have considered all human beings as works of art, though in their view the real artist is God. And some artists have made art work out of their bodies (body art) and some philosophers (Nietzsche) have thought that one should view one's whole life as a work of art in... Read more
If it is assumed that a person is indeed free to have his/her own opinions, views, perspectives, etc., should this right still be respected even if a person's opinions are demonstrably wrong, misleading, or potentially harmful (to themselves and others)?
Charles Taliaferro
October 10, 2010
(changed October 10, 2010)
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Great question! Replying to the question will depend on the kind of "right" you have in mind. Consider three areas: politics, education, and the general issue of integrity.In a pluralistic democracy that respects basic liberties, you may have to tolerate (though to tolerate is not ne... Read more
If a person fails to feel pain or suffering for events which usually bring such things about - if they don't miss their family or home while away, or if they don't grieve for dead relatives or pets, or if they don't get upset when they fail an exam or lose their job - is it sensible to hold them somehow for flawed, or to claim that they are inhuman? Is emotional numbness or indifference a moral wrong?
Charles Taliaferro
October 10, 2010
(changed October 10, 2010)
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Great question! You have definitely (in my view) described a disturbing emotional indifference or numbness, but this may not be due to any moral wrong. People might be in such a condition because they have suffered some great trauma or brain injury through no fault of their own. Phi... Read more
“The House of Pleasure” I have often been baffled by what seems to be a relatively straightforward problem which I call The House of Pleasure. I was wondering if: a) a trained philosopher could shed some light on it; and b) whether anything similar has been discussed in the academic literature. It goes like this. It’s a Saturday night and a guy is walking to a party. On the way, he notices something he hasn’t seen before: a neon sign obnoxiously blinking “The House of Pleasure.” Intrigued, he approaches the doorman. “That’ll be $100, sir.” “What? That’s crazy! What is this place?” “Oh,” the doorman says with a glimmer in his eye, “you’ve never been to The House of Pleasure? Let me explain. After you pay me and walk in, your brain will be scanned to identify everything that you subjectively enjoy: physically, sexually, emotionally, and intellectually. You’ll then spend the next four hours experiencing pure, untainted pleasure based on your personal desires. Whatever you enjoy most about life, you will experience intensely and without interruption for four hours. Think of it as a four-hour spiritual orgasm.” “Incredible! This sounds great…” “However,” the doorman warned, “there’s a catch. When you leave after four hours, your brain will be scanned again. It will be returned to the exact physical state it started in when you first entered. In other words, your memory of the experience will be completely erased. Also, your body will be returned to its original state, so any feelings of physical euphoria will likewise be eliminated.” Should the man enter The House of Pleasure? Assuming he could have spent the evening at a party where he would have formed lasting memories, there is both a time and a memory cost to the HOP. Further, does the entrance fee affect whether or not the man should enter? In other words, does it matter whether or not the HOP is free of cost? My take on it is this. If he enters HOP, his stream of consciousness experiences walking through the entrance and then immediately walking out the exit, four hours later. In essence, his consciousness perceives nothing; it’s as if no time has passed. He walks in and then out feeling exactly the same way, as if it never happened, except that he is out $100 and four hours’ time. But my intuition, if correct, is problematic, because his perception of the experience depends on what happens afterward. That his stream of consciousness seems to skip over the time at HOP depends on an event (the erasure of his memories) that occurs after leaving HOP. My intuition further seems to imply the following oddity: If my memory of a time period will be permanently erased immediately after that time period, then my stream of consciousness skips over that time period. Equivalently (contrapositive), if my stream of consciousness does not skip over a time period, then my memory of that time period will not be permanently erased immediately after that time period. The above statement is strange in part because it implies that if I am consciously aware right now (I am), then my stream of consciousness is not skipping over this time period, and my memory of this time period will not be immediately permanently erased. But, if true, I can never reach the moment just before my conscious death, because that conscious moment just before my conscious death requires that that final glimpse of consciousness not be immediately permanently erased. In other words, as you may have surmised by now, my intuition regarding The House of Pleasure seems to imply eternal consciousness. What’s wrong with my intuition? Has this mental experiment been tackled before, and where can I find literature on it? Thanks! BTW, for those who are curious, I have degrees in nuclear engineering and law and have always loved the philosophical problems raised by physics (e.g., MIT’s Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics) and the mind. Andrew K.
Eddy Nahmias
October 9, 2010
(changed October 9, 2010)
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This interesting thought experiment and associated questions deserves a substantial response. Alas, for now, I can only suggest that you read Robert Nozick's discussion of happiness and the "pleasure machine" thought experiment, a nice discussion of which was offered in the New York Times by... Read more
Does Goedel's incompletness therom demonstrate that logic cannot be shown to be consistent and complete because we cannot prove a system of logic without relying on logic or begging the question? In other words; does it reveal a fallacy of "pretended neutrality"?
Richard Heck
October 9, 2010
(changed October 9, 2010)
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No, I do not think the incompleteness theorem has any such consequence.
First of all, although the incompleteness theorem does apply to some formal systems some people would classify as systems of logic (e.g., second-order logic), its primary application, as usually understood, is to formal s... Read more
Are physical and logical truths distinct and, if so, how are they related? Is one more fundamental than the other? By ‘physical truth’ I mean something true in virtue of the laws of physics, such as ‘masses attract other masses’ (gravity) and by ‘logical truth’ I mean something true in virtue of logical or mathematical principles, like ‘2 + 2 = 4’. Could there be a world where some of the physical truths of our world were false but all of the logical truths of our world were true? That is, a world where masses always repelled other masses but 2 + 2 = 4? Conversely, could there be a world where some of the logical truths of our world were false but all of the physical truths of our world remained true? That is, a world where 2 + 2 = 5 but where, as in our world, masses attract other masses? [We’ve been discussing this hours and feel in desperate need of professional guidance - please help!]
Richard Heck
October 9, 2010
(changed October 9, 2010)
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One of the things usually taken to be distinctive of mathematical and logical truth is that such truths are in some very strong sense necessary, i.e., they could not have been false. Assuming that it is in fact true that 2 + 2 = 4, how could that have failed to be true? (Or, to take a logical... Read more
Sometimes my students want to argue that "my opinion is as good as anyone else's opinion." How do I counter this view with a reasonable philosophical argument? Thanks! Richard in New York
William Rapaport
October 9, 2010
(changed October 9, 2010)
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The opinion that all opinions are equally good is one that is usually held by people whose attitude toward knowledge is what some psychologists call "Multiplism" or "Subjective Knowledge". This is the view that, because there are often conflicting answers to questions (or conflicting solu... Read more
Sometimes my students want to argue that "my opinion is as good as anyone else's opinion." How do I counter this view with a reasonable philosophical argument? Thanks! Richard in New York
William Rapaport
October 9, 2010
(changed October 9, 2010)
Permalink
The opinion that all opinions are equally good is one that is usually held by people whose attitude toward knowledge is what some psychologists call "Multiplism" or "Subjective Knowledge". This is the view that, because there are often conflicting answers to questions (or conflicting solu... Read more
If you look at the leaves of a tree, they are seemingly randomly arranged. We call it chaos. If you take 100 pennies and arrange them on a flat surface in rows and columns of 10 it's called order. We assign the label chaos to something that occurs naturally and has done so for billions of years. Wouldn't that occurrence be considered order if it had been there a long, long time and the human species and our perceptions are very new in comparison?
Jonathan Westphal
October 14, 2010
(changed October 14, 2010)
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The positions and numbers of branches and leaves of trees and plants are governed by Fibonacci series: 1,1,2,3,5,8.13 . . . . , so there is order in their arrangement. Whether this pattern exists seems to have little or nothing to do with how used to it we are.
Log... Read more